It's A Grand Old Team to Play For
by BigD1987
Summary: Tai is now playing for The Celtic Football Club of Glasgow, Scotland. As he struggles to survive the season, he adjusts to a new country and forges relationships between new friends and an old crush.
1. Beginnings

Tai Kamiya was nervous. Was he as nervous as he was before the Bronze Medal match at the Beijing Olympics? Yes, he was. It was just three days after the closing ceremonies and now he was in a place where he had not expected to be—Glasgow, Scotland. The famous Celtic Football Club was signing him after playing 3 years with Kashima Antlers. Davis Motomiya and Ken Ichijouji were still playing in the J-League for Kashima Antlers and JEF United Chiba, respectively, so he was the only member of the DigiDestined to be playing in Europe. His transfer procedures were complete, and now he was in Scotland to officially join the club, despite the fact that their season had officially begun 2 days after the opening ceremonies for the Olympics. And he was amazed at how quickly the transfer had gone. Didn't these things usually take a while? Oh wait, his contract was voided after he made a mistake that forced the club to cut him. Understandably, it hurt.

But right now, he was in the pressroom at Celtic Park waiting for that other player the club had signed. Well, to be exact, he was out of sight of the cameras. His friends, Sora Takenouchi, Joe Kido, Matt Ishida (although Tai wasn't happy about it, since he felt Matt had stolen Sora from him), Tai's sister Kari and Matt's brother TK Takaishi were also there. The rest of the group couldn't be there due to previous engagements. Agumon wasn't with him, either. Considering the knowledge of the Digital World wasn't well known, the Digimon would be out of sight for now.

"Jeez, Tai, calm down," said Kari while she adjusted his necktie.

"That's easy for you to say," he replied. "You're not being signed by a major European football club!"

"Well, then just remember you're not the only one being signed," she said. "That other guy must be pretty nervous, too."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," he replied. His appearance had changed somewhat since the days when he was out saving the world. He was now 21 years old. He was taller than he was sometime ago, but the biggest difference was his hair: It had been cut some time ago, and he decided to keep it, since he felt the big hair wouldn't look right when playing. Matt's hair was also longer, since he was dedicating more time to his band. Sora had also grown, and he felt that she was now the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen—too bad he couldn't have her.

Suddenly, they noticed someone approaching them. "It must be their new signee," said Matt. But it wasn't. It was the manager Gordon Strachan and the club's chairman Dr. John Reid MP.

"Mr. Kamiya," said Strachan in his native Scottish accent. "I look forward to seeing ye during the year."

"Thank you, sir," said Tai, his voice shaking somewhat.

"I see you're nervous," said Strachan. "I remember when I first began playing, I was pretty nervous myself. Anyone would be nervous in a situation like this."

"I guess so," said Tai. Instead of walking right into the press room, Strachan and Reid stood around for a while, as if they were waiting for someone.

"Um, excuse me," said Sora. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"Aye, yes," replied Reid. "We're waiting for our other new player."

"Makes sense," said Izzy. "Who is he?"

"You'll see," replied Dr. Reid. Just then, he said, "Ah, here he comes." He said, pointing at a figure that was approaching them. Tai tried to see who it was, but he couldn't tell. But there was a strange familiarity about him. As the figure got closer, he began to get a strange sense of déjà vu. When the figure was close enough, Tai's eyes widened in realization of who the person was. The person had brown hair, blue eyes and was built the same as Tai, as well as the same age, but his hair was slightly longer, but not much longer.

"Ah, Mr. Michaels," said Strachan. "I'm glad you could make it,"

"I appreciate it," replied Mr. Michaels. His voice was also shaking, so Tai thought he was just as nervous as he was. But his appearance as well as his last name confirmed who he was. But it seemed Mr. Michaels recognized him too.

"Don't I know you?" He said.

"Yeah, I think so," replied Tai. "Aren't you Scott Michaels for the United States team at the Olympics?"

"Yeah, I am," replied Scott. "You must be Tai Kamiya from the Japanese team."

"Ah, I see you two know each other," said Dr. Reid.

"Yeah, we played against each other in the Bronze Medal match at the Olympics," said Tai.

"Our teams met each other in that game," said Scott. "I played for the U.S., he was playing for Japan."

"Well, I hope that you don't have any conflicts while you're here," said Strachan. "Now let's get this press conference under way," He and Dr. Reid walked into the press room, and Tai and Scott followed them. Once inside, they were bombarded by the flash bulbs, which caught the two young soccer players off guard. Strachan and Reid, however, seemed unfazed, probably because they were used to the flashbulbs. Dr. Reid walked up to the podium while Tai and Scott took their seats to the left of him while Strachan sat down to the right.

"Good afternoon," said Dr. Reid. "I'm pleased to announce the signing of two young rising stars in football. To my left are Taichi Kamiya from the Odaiba district of the Minato Ward of Tokyo and previously played for Kashima Antlers, and to his left is Scott Michaels from Chicago, Illinois in the United States and who recently graduated from the University of Florida. We are excited to have these two playing for us, and I've also found out, although Mr. Strachan probably knows this, that these two played against each other in the Olympics." The press in the room laughed in response. "But we really are glad to have these two playing for us. So, without further ado, let's let them answer some questions."

The press in the room erupted in a din of voices and accents, some of the Scottish, some of them English, some Japanese, some American, and a few others. Neither Tai nor Scott could tell what to do right now. So, Tai pointed at a random reporter.

The man spoke with a Scottish accent and said, "Grant McLeod, _The Herald_, what made you choose Celtic? And this is for the both of ye."

Tai thought for moment and said, "I decided to come here because they have a Japanese player, so I felt that if I came here, at least there'd be another Japanese player. And besides, I've always wanted to wear a kilt!" The reporters in the room laughed at Tai's comment. "Plus, Celtic gave me the best opportunity to play."

"Scott?"

"Well, I had some offers from MLS clubs, the decision came when a friend of mine told me he was pissed that Rangers had an American on their squad and Celtic, his favorite, did not have any so I said, why don't I play for them?"

"_Ha ha ha ha ha_!"

"I'm not sure if that was funny or not," Scott said to Tai.

"Well they though it was funny," he replied. The two took some more questions before Dr. Reid decided to end the press conference. But it wasn't that he thought that they were hogging the spotlight, he just wanted a photo-op.

"Well, now that we're all acquainted, what do ye say we get some pictures of them with their hoops?" Tai and Scott nodded in agreement as an employee brought out their new shirts. The shirt had on it the club's world-famous alternating green-and-white "hoops". The front of the shirt included the jersey sponsor's logo, Carling. Above the logo, on the shirt's left breast was the club's famed crest—a Green-and-white four-leaf clover on a circular field of white, which was encircled by a green outer ring that had the words "The Celtic Football Club" in white on top, with "1888", the year of the club's founding, on the bottom. A ring of black in turn, encircled it. Above the crest was a yellow star, symbolizing the Lisbon lions, the year they won their first (and so far only) European Cup in 1967. The right breast included the Nike Swoosh, since Nike manufactured the shirt. The collar was a v-neck and colored green, with yellow piping on the back, with the club name on the back of that in yellow, and a Celtic-like font. The sleeves also had thin yellow piping. The back of the shirt had Tai and Scott's last names above their number, number 16 and 5, respectively. (By the way, I suggest you google "Celtic FC 2008-09 home kit" to see what it looks like. If you already know what it looks like, then you don't need to look.) As the two were handed their shirts, they felt a great sense of accomplishment. The press took pictures of the two holding their shirts. Although the two had smiles on their faces, this belied their history.

"So Tai, you know this guy?" Asked Joe after the press conference was over.

"Well, I don't know him personally, but we have faced each other before," replied Tai. Scott listened in confusion, since Tai and his friends were conversing in Japanese, a language he did not speak.

"Um, what the hell are you talking about?" He asked.

"Didn't you hear?" Sora replied. "They faced each other in the Olympics. Didn't you?" She turned to ask Scott in English, which only confused him even more.

"What?"

"You faced Tai in the Olympics, didn't you?" Scott then remembered and began laughing and said,

"Oh yeah, in the Bronze Medal match," he said.

"He scored the winning goal," said Tai, some anger evident in his voice. "Why the hell did you do it?" He asked. Really it was a stupid question.

"Why the hell are you asking that? I did what I had to do, and now you're blaming me?"

"You prevented us from winning!"

"Well I'm the opponent, what the hell do you expect I do?" He shot back.

"I don't know, miss, maybe!"

"Now why would I miss on purpose, huh? That would get me in even _more _trouble!"

"Tai, he's right. I know you're upset, but do you want to be a bad sport?" Kari scolded. "That's not the way and Olympian should be acting!"

Tai knew she was right. "I guess so," he said. "But I still won't be happy about it."

"I guess we can agree on that," said Scott. Just then, Strachan walked up to them.

"So, are any of ye hungry?" He said.

(A/N: I will be using both real and fictional players in this. The real players will be noted with an (R), while fictional players are noted with and (F). Scott is obviously fictional. Sadly, there are no Americans on the Celtic F.C. squad.)

A few hours later, the former DigiDestined, Scott Michaels, Gordon Strachan and several of the players from Celtic were at one of Glasgow's swankiest restaurants. At the moment, Scott (Michaels) was discussing things with Australian striker Scott McDonald (R) and Scottish midfielder Gary Boyd (F). Tai, meanwhile, was with his friends but was also being asked questions by Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc (R).

"So Scott," said Scott McDonald. "Tai has his little sister with him. Why isn't your family with you?"

"Well," said Scott. "My mom and dad are helping my little brother with college."

"Your brother's in college?" Tai asked.

"Yeah, at the University of Central Florida," he replied.

"Where's that?" Boyd asked. "I know it's in Florida, but what city?"

"It's in Orlando," replied Scott (Michaels).

"Orlando?" Kari said. "Isn't that where Disney World is?"

"Yep," he replied. "He's a freshman and he's going to be playing football there. American football, not _futbol_." He said.

"What position does he play?" McDonald asked.

"Quarterback," he replied.

"Why are they eager to talk to _him_?" Tai asked with some slight anger in his tone.

"Well, he's the new guy," replied Izzy. "Might as well get acquainted with the new guy."

"Yeah, but he's getting more attention!" That didn't last long.

"So Kamiya!" Scott McDonald shouted. "You played against Michaels in the Olympics, right?"

"Yeah, and you shouldn't mention that!" He replied.

"Oh, don't worry about it," said Robinson. "It's the competition that matters!"

"Yeah, but I still would have like to have won," Tai muttered under his breath.

"Tai, just let it go," said Sora with some annoyance in her voice. Tai simply took a sip of his beer. But he also noticed something about Matt and Sora: they were barely speaking to each other, and when they were, it seemed to be… confrontational for some reason. But Tai brushed it aside.

A few minutes later, Strachan (R, obviously) stood up and tapped on his beer glass with a spoon, making the table fall silent. "Well now, we're all silent. I'd like to make a toast to our new signees, Scott Michaels and Taichi Kamiya!" The people at the table applauded at that, including Scott (Michaels) and Tai. "I hope that they can bring good fortune to our team, and that they can be great team players." He said the last part with a hint of annoyance on his voice, as he was obviously annoyed at the seemingly growing antagonism between Tai and Scott (Michaels). The two of them seemed to get the message, since they had slight looks of embarassment on their faces. "So let use raise our pints in honor of our new players! _Sláinte_!"

"_Sláinte_!" Came the reply. Of course, Tai and the DigiDestined had no idea what that meant, so Tai Izzy asked Gary Robinson,

"What does _Sláinte _mean?"

"It means 'good health' in Gaelic," he replied. Just then, "Ah, the food's here!" The waiters brought in the night's main course in covered platters.

"All right!" Tai, whose excitement for the food had replaced his distrust of Scott (Michaels) by now exclaimed. The waiters placed the platters on the tables and lifted the lid revealing… something.

"Uuummm, what is this?" Asked TK, who was not alone in wondering what the hell it was. Scott (Michaels) and the rest of the DigiDestined were confused at what it was. But Strachan and some of the other Celtic players were eating it comfortably.

"Looks like my grandma's meat loaf!" Said Scott (Michaels), clearly confused at the mystery meat.

"It's haggis!" Scott Brown said(R).

"What?" TK asked.

"Haggis! It's a native dish. It's made from sheep's pluck."

"What's sheep's pluck?" Joe asked, clearly starting to get grossed out.

"It's the sheep's heart, liver and lungs," said Brown. That got the DigiDestined and Scott (Michaels) grossed out. "And it's encased in the sheep's stomach!"

Now they were really grossed out! Poor Joe, who, despite being a med student, had to rush to the bathroom so he didn't throw up right then and there. The rest of the group decided not to eat it, since they couldn't bring themselves to do so. Scott (Michaels) stared at the haggis before turning to the waiter and said, "Can I just have a cheeseburger?"

About an hour later, the group was back at the hotel they were staying at. Scott (Michaels) was at a different hotel, so he went somewhere else. Knowing the Digimon would eat anything, they brought the haggis with them.

"Oh Agumon," said Tai in a sing-song voice as he and Kari entered their room. "I have something for you."

"Really, what is it?" The small, dinosaur-like monster asked as he pooped out of a closet. Gatomon also appeared, since Kari was staying in the same room with Tai.

"It's something you'll really like," he said to try and get the Digimon excited.

"Stop wasting time and show it to us!" Gatomon asked.

"Okay, then, here it is!" He and Kari pulled out the boxes containing the delicacy for the two to see. "It's haggis!" They opened the box for the two to see, but even they, despite their appetites, were still confused.

"I don't get it," said Gatomon. "What is it?"

"It's sheep guts encased in the sheep's stomach!" Said Tai in a voice to try and get them excited. Too bad it didn't work.

"Are you kidding me?" Agumon asked. "That sounds gross!" Both Tai and Kari had looks of disbelief on their faces. They were refusing food? That's a new one. But something interrupted the moment.

"Leave me alone, Matt!" A voice came from down the hall. Tai and Kari looked at each other before peeking outside to see Sora storm down the hallway right past them. They didn't get a chance to ask Sora what was going on. The two went back into their room and Tai sat down on the bed and turned the TV on. Kari simply looked at her older brother.

"You still like her, don't you?" Kari asked.

"What?"

"Don't give me that!" She snapped. "I saw the look on your face when you were watching them, you're still in love with her and you wish you hadn't let the opportunity go."

"What are you talking about Kari?" He replied. "I don't have feelings for her right now!"

"Yes you do, quit lying! You're jealous of Matt, I've seen it for years, Tai. I'm your sister, you can't fool me." Tai didn't answer. Instead, he continued watching TV. "Jeez, Tai, you're how old, 22? Quit acting like a little kid and talk!"

"I said it's none of your business, Kari!" He snapped at her.

"You feel as though you let her go, don't you? Do you regret letting her go to Matt while you sat idly by? I know you wanted for her to be happy and you didn't want to hurt your relationship with Matt, but it's obvious what it's done to you!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tai asked. Kari sighed and said,

"Do you regret letting Sora go to Matt?"

"Yeah, I do, but-,"

"I knew it!" She exclaimed. "You do care for her!"

"What proof do you have?"

"You just said you regret letting her go to Matt."

Tai knew she was starting to hit something, so he simply said, "It's none of your business."

"Tai, like I said, you're 21 and you're going to be playing for one of the biggest soccer clubs in Europe! Are you gonna act your age or not? And I also suggest that you drop this antagonism towards Mr. Michaels, because he's your teammate now!"

"I said it's none of your business!" He said. He got up off the bed and walked out of the room, all the while saying, "I'm going for a walk."

"Jeez, Tai…"

It wasn't really a walk, but it was close enough. Tai drove his rental car around the city of Glasgow while he collected his thoughts. At one point, he drove past the stadium for Celtic's (extremely) hated rivals, Rangers, Ibrox Stadium. But he paid no heed to it. Finally, he drove to Celtic Park, the place where he will be playing from now on. As he stood in front of the stadium's red-brick façade of the main stand, he thought about whether Kari was right or not. But he also thought about his future with the club and whether he'd succeed or not.

"So humans actually _eat _this stuff?" Agumon asked concerning the haggis.

"Yeah, one of the players told me it's a Scottish delicacy," said Kari with a slight disinterested tone on her voice.

"Even though I've been living with them for years, I still think humans are so strange," said Gatomon. "Eating a piece of an animal—oh wait." She just remembered that cats eat mice. "But using the innards of animals just seems so wrong to me." Kari giggled slightly at Gatomon's comment, unlike her disinterested tone regarding Agumon. Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door.

"Is it room service?" Asked Agumon. "Or maybe it's Tai!"

"In any case, hide, so I can see who it is." The two Digimon hid in closet while Kari answered the door. It was…

"Sora?" She said. "How come you're here?"

"Kari, can I talk to you?" She asked her. Kari smiled, somehow knowing exactly what she was talking about.

"Sure, come on in."

Tai had not returned from his drive around Glasgow. Instead he was in a pub, just having a pint of Guinness. He'd been there for sometime and he had only touched his glass on occasion.

"Are ye havin' trouble wit' the lasses, laddie?" The bartender asked in his think Highland accent. Of course Tai, not knowing the difference between a lowland and Highland accent, simply said,

"Why do you care?"

"Och, I know that look," he replied. "I've seen lads come in with looks like that on their faces countless times. In fact, from the look of your face, it's a lass ye really had it goin' fer but ye let her go another mahn."

"You don't know what you're talking about," he replied. The bartender shook his head, and then said,

"Aren't ye that new Japanese player the Bhoys signed today?"

"Who are the Bhoys?" He asked.

"Celtic, my good mahn! 'Tis a nickname fer the team. Ah, welcome laddie!" A new person had entered the pub, and Tai looked to see who it was. It was none other than Scott Michaels.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"I was just about to ask you the same question," replied Tai.

"Ah, ye must be tha new American Bhoy," said the bartender.

"Yeah, so?"

"Sit down and have a pint on the house. In fahct, I'll let ye both have a pint on the house. So you don't have tae pay for thaht Guinness."

"Oh, thanks." Tai said.

"No problem," said the bartender. He turned to Scott and said, "So are there any good pubs were yer're from?"

"Well, there's a few good bars in Gainesville, and there's an Irish bar called Tommy Nevins in Evanston, which is a few towns over from where I live."

"Oh, so ye don't live in Chicago? What town are you from?"

"A town called Northfield."

"Ye two seem to know each other," said the bartender, suddenly changing the topic.

"Yeah, we played against each other in the Olympics," said Tai.

"He's still mad at me for scoring the winning goal in the Bronze Medal match," said Scott.

"Och, that's tae bad. Sae, what will ye hahve?"

"I'll have a Bud Light." Bad idea.

"I hate say this, but Bud Light is fer queers." Tai and Scott had surprised looks on their faces when he said this. The bartender then poured a glass of a different beer and said, "Try the house beer, it's frickin' great." (A/N: Credit to Jay Mohr for this next bit) The beer looked like something had been dredged from the bottom of a lake, though.

"What is that?" Tai asked, regarding the strange… brew.

"Looks like there's a fly in there," replied Scott.

"Are you gonna drink that?"

"Might as well, after all, it's frickin' great." He said that last part by imitating the bartender's accent. He picked up the glass and said, "Cheers."

"Cheers." Scott took a swig of the liquid and then—

"HOLY SHIT!" Scott reacted to the thick taste of the beer which he wasn't used to. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS!"

"It's frickin' great, isn't it?"

"WATER! I NEED WATER!"

"Alright, alight, I'll get ye some water. Ye pansy."

"SHUT UP AND GIMME THE WATER!" Scott gulped the water down, then coughed a little bit and collapsed. Tai watched in amused horror at the spectacle. Finally, Scott got up and said, "Just get me a Guinness."

A few days later, Tai and the rest of the DigiDestined were at Glasgow International airport, two days after Tai's Scottish Premier League debut in the year's first Old Firm—the nickname for the Celtic-Rangers rivalry. He had played the last 5 minutes of the 4-2 loss, but a debut is still a debut. And now he was seeing his friends off on their trip back to Japan. Kari, meanwhile, would stay with him. So now the group was standing in the airport terminal saying their (hopefully not) final goodbyes to Tai and kari.

"Goodbye Tai," said Izzy. "I hope you have a prodigious time here."

"Thanks, Izzy," replied Tai. "I hope you do good at MIT or wherever it is you're going to."

"Well good luck, we'll be cheering for you," said Joe. "If you have any problems, just call me."

"Thanks Joe. I knew I could count on you," he said.

"I'll make sure Davis watches your games," said TK, knowing he had a chance to have a chance to humiliate his old rival.

"Thanks, TK," he replied. He truned to Matt and said, "Well Matt, aren't you going to say anything?"

Matt just softly said, "Good luck." It was strange for Matt to be quiet like this. Tai wondered why Matt wasn't talking much.

"You've been awfully quiet Matt," he said. "Cat got your tongue?"

"No."

"Then why are you so damn quiet?"

"Lay off of him Tai," said Sora.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," said Tai, some tears welling up in his eyes. "It'll be lonely here without you guys, even with Kari here to keep me company."

But what Kari said next shocked all of them—except Sora. "Actually Tai, I'm going back to Japan with them."

"_What_?" They all said in unison.

"You heard me, I'm not staying."

"But Kari, who's going to stay here with me while I get adjusted?"

"Well, you know them well," she said.

"That's not good enough Kari, who is it?"

"It's me."

Tai knew who said it. He turned around said, "Sora?"

"Yes Tai," she replied. "I'm staying in Scotland with you." This revelation shocked Izzy, TK, Joe and Tai, but not Matt and Kari.

"Kari, what's going on here?"

"You heard her," she replied. "She's staying with you in Scotland."

"But you didn't tell me this!"

"Because I wanted to make it a surprise!" She replied.

"But—but—but, oh forget it!" He said. "You're not changing your mind, are you?"

"Nope!" _Besides, I've got another reason to got back to Japan_, she thought, looking at TK. Tai just sighed.

"Oh well." He said. "Goodbye Kari," he said.

"So long, Tai." She replied, with tears welling up in her eyes. The two loving siblings gave each other one last heart-felt embrace before Kari left for Japan. "I'll miss you, Tai. I'll have mom keep in contact, okay?"

"Thanks, Kari. I'll miss you two." He said with his voice breaking somewhat. He hated to see his sister leave, but he knew that she wouldn't let him be alone.

Tai and Sora gave their final goodbyes to the group and watched them leave for their flight back to Japan in silence. When would they see them again? They did not have the answer, but they hoped it would be soon.

"Do you have any regrets staying Sora?" He asked her. She took a deep breath, and said with a confident voice that he had not heard in months,

"Not a damn one."

End chapter.

My first Digimon story! I promise it will be good, dammit. And what about Scott (Michaels) and Tai's antagonism? Well, that will be discussed in later chapters.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I am a Celtic fan. So I am biased somewhat. And if you're a rangers fan… then too bad, because there will be rangers bashing. MASSIVE hun bashing. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Reviews would be appreciated.


	2. Antagonism

It had been a disappointing month for Tai and Scott (Michaels). When they came to Celtic, they thought they would be getting a decent amount of playing time. Instead, they were mostly playing as substitutes, coming on during the later stages of the matches. The most playing time they had gotten was with their respective national teams—Scott for the United States and Tai for Japan—where they started two games (and those were the only two games they played in) for each team in the two teams respective World Cup qualifying, the United Sates in CONCACAF (Confederation Of North, Central American And Caribbean Association Football) and Japan in the AFC (Asian Football Confederation). But in Scottish domestic competition, they didn't get a whole lot of playing time.

In the mean time, both of them were able to get apartments in the Glasgow City Centre (Downtown in American terms), strangely in the same building. Why, neither of them knew, but they shrugged it off, thinking it was simply a coincidence that they were living in the same building. But Tai also had to share his apartment with Sora, but since he lived with Kari so many years, he was used to having another female in the apartment. Of course, it did have room for Agumon and Biyomon to hide in case they had to.

"I love it! I love it!" An enthusiastic Koromon chirped as he bounded around the apartment. Because the In-Training levels were easier to hide, they had de-digivolved to do so. Of course, finding out how to do that is no easy task in itself.

"I'm glad that someone likes it," said Sora.

"Are you kidding me? You give him a soccer ball, and he'll be entertained for hours," replied Tai. Sora had her own bedroom, while Tai had his own; again, it wasn't like Japanese apartments, which tend to be small. It was much bigger, which is why Koromon and Yokomon were so excited, because they had never been in an apartment this big before. But Tai and Sora were even happier that they were getting a two-bedroom apartment for a relatively cheap price, considering this was a nice apartment. It wasn't luxury, but it was still pretty swanky anyways.

Tai took a breath that sounded of disappointment and sat on the couch in the living room. Koromon and Yokomon continued to play, blissfully unaware of Tai's presence on the couch. Tai once again let out a sigh, and Sora said,

"What's wrong, Tai?"

"Nothing," he said.

"I guess you're not happy with the lack of playing time, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So you expected more playing time?" She asked. "Aren't you happy with the playing time you've been getting with the National Team?"

"I am glad about that, but I'd rather be playing here! I came here to play and I've been—what's that term Scott uses, oh yeah—riding the bench too much."

"Jeez Tai, you're acting like a little kid!" She said, which did not seem to please him too well. "You should be thankful you're actually getting to play instead of complaining that you're not playing enough! Maybe Strachan just doesn't know if you're ready yet!"

"I've played in the Olympics, for cryin' out loud!" He shot back. "And why are you lecturing me about this, you're not my mom or Kari!"

"What do your mom and Kari has to do with this? Anyway, you joined the team when the season was getting underway, so I would expect that the players who were here first would get some more time then you."

"Well, we've already started our Champions League Season, and I was hoping to play against Aalborg."

"Right, but you didn't, so deal with it. Maybe he'll let you play against Villareal when you go there on the 30th," she said.

"I hope so," he said. "But we gotta worry about Aberdeen first."

--

Scott, meanwhile, had his own apartment to worry about. He, like Sora and Tai, had a two-bedroom apartment, but unlike them, he couldn't get a roommate, not even Maurice Edu an American playing for Rangers. So he had to pay the damn bill himself.

"Bunch of bullshite," he muttered to himself as he departed to get his groceries. He chuckled to himself. A month into his time here in Scotland and he was already talking like the locals! He was about to leave when he saw a young woman around his age with dark brown hair struggling to get something out of her car. So, he decided to help her. "Ma'am! Ma'am!" He called to her. "Let me help you with that," he said.

"Oh, thanks," she said in her Scottish accent. She must have been a local, since he could now tell the difference between a Glasgow dialect and a Highland dialect. "You're not from around here, are ye?" She asked. She was a good-looking girl with soft features on her face. And her voice was pretty melodic, too.

"Nope," he replied. The item involved was a chair that she could not get out of her van without assistance, so she needed some help, which she appreciated. Of course, that meant Scott had to delay his grocery trip.

"You know, I was about to go get my groceries," he said as he tried to help her up the stairs.

"Are you complaining or something?" She asked.

"No, I was just mentioning," he said.

"Ye know, I think I've seen ye somewhere before, do ye live in the building?"

"Yeah, I just moved in about a week—grunt—ago." He said as he got the chair up another step.

"I moved in yesterday and I'm not done yet," she replied. "But I know I've heard of ye somewhere."

"I think you may have heard of me in the sports page," he replied. "I'm playing for Celtic."

"Oh, so yer're a footballer," she said. "That's nice. But yer're not from Scotland, are ye?"

"Of course not, I'm an American!" He replied. They stopped at one landing and Scott said, "By the way, my name's Scott, Scott Michaels."

"I'm Margaret Gordon, but you can just call me Maggie."

"Well Maggie, it was nice to meet you," he said, shaking her hand.

--

Celtic's match against Aberdeen on Saturday the 27th of September was the first time Tai and Scott got significant playing time. They came in this time coming in the 50th minute for Scott and Tai coming in during the 55th minute. The Celtic kit was completed by the club's traditional white shorts with the club crest on the right pant leg and the player's number on the left. The socks were white, but were topped by a green band and some yellow piping on the top. The front of the shin included the Nike logo while the Celtic script was on the calf (again, I suggest you look up the Celtic kits for 2008-09. I suggest the Switch Image Project; they have a great reference for the kits. Search "Celtic FC 2008-09 kits, Switch Image Project". But don't use quotes it might mess things up). Aberdeen's kit, meanwhile, was almost solid red with a strip of white on the left shoulder and white piping on the edge of the sleeves and the pant legs.

But enough about the uniforms, we need to get to the game. Again, Scott and Tai entered the game in the second half with Celtic leading 2-nil thanks to two goals by Dutch co-captain Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (R). But that lead wasn't to last as former Celt Charlie Mulgrew (R) scored in the 57th minute to cut Celtic's lead in half and then scored 8 minutes later to tie the match. But luckily for Celtic, that didn't last long, because in the 92nd minute (second minute of additional time), they managed to break through on the following play:

(A/N: A "C" will note play-by-play commentary.)

C: "_Michaels, on the near post, kicks it to McDonald, he shoots, GOOAAAAL!!!! Scott McDonald, on an assist from the American Bhoy Scott Michaels, has put Celtic ahead 3-2!!!"_

With that goal, Celtic were able to hang on for a win of the same score. We now join the characters post-match in the Celtic dressing room:

Scott (Michaels) was putting on his street clothes after removing his kit. He was going to wait until he got back to his apartment until he showered, despite the fact that he probably smelled like shite.

"Hey, great assist earlier," said McDonald.

"Oh thanks," he replied. At first things were going fine until Tai walked back in to the dressing room and English midfielder Luke Chapman (F) had the bad idea to ask,

"So Tai, I hear you and Scott have some history." Had he known what would have happened next, he would not have asked.

"Yes, we do," he replied as he got to his locker. Tai had some hostility in his voice as if the comment had reopened some old wounds.

"Well, what happened?" He asked.

"We played against each Bronze Medal game at the Olympics in _futbol_," said Scott.

"Oh, so that's it," said Luke. "I thought it was because Michaels stole a girl from Kamiya."

Scott laughed and said, "No, that's not it. He's still mad at me for scoring the winning goal in that game to give the United States the win over Japan."

"And I still wish you hadn't made that goal," said Tai.

"You're still mad about that?" Scott asked with indignation. "What a sore loser you are, get over it already. We won, and you lost. Deal with it!" But that just made Tai even angrier. Although he had grown since the time he was a DigiDestined, he still had his temper and like now, tended to rush into things without thinking.

"Well I wanted to win a medal, alright?"

"Kamiya, we were in the fucking Olympics, you're supposed to be a good sport about this!"

Scottish-born Irish national Aiden McGeady (R) tried to step in between the two, as things were getting pretty heated now. "Alright you two, that's enough, alright?"

"Maybe I should have kicked your ass!" Tai shouted.

"Do you know when to fucking quit? It's over, get over it, asshole!" Now no amount of holding back could stop Tai as he lunged forward and slugged Scott right in the left side of the face, drawing groans from the rest of the squad. The hit was hard enough that it made Scott fall back and eventually fell on his ass. Trying to feel the damage, Scott held his hand to his mouth in reaction. Then he took his hand off his mouth and saw blood in his hand. That got him even angrier. "You son of a bitch!" He yelled as he got up and lunged at Tai, this time striking Tai in the mouth. Within seconds, the rest of the squad had to intervene with the two tousling players, trying to separate the two from each other. Tai had to be pulled off Scott by Greek attacker Georgios Samaras while Scottish goalkeeper Terry Hampden had to push Scott away from him. They were eventually successful, but Gordon Strachan had to intervene in order to finally stop the fighting. Soon, the room was silent as Strachan addressed the two squabblers.

"Enough of this, the both of ye!" He said. "The 'FC' stands for 'Football Club', not 'Fight Club', ye got that?" The both of them nodded. "Now I want the both of ye in my office in half an hour, understand?"

"Yes sir," said Scott.

"Yes sir," said Tai.

"Good." Strachan said firmly. He turned around and left the room. With the fighting over, the rest of the players resumed their business. Poor Luke Chapman simply shook his head and muttered to himself, "I was just curious."

--

Thirty minutes later, Scott and Tai entered Gordon Strachan's office, just as he told them two. Scott had an ice pack on his lips, since he had sustained a fat lip. Tai, meanwhile, had a small, but noticeable black eye resulting from Scott's punch. "Have a seat," he said them. They did as they were told and sat down silently. The room was filled with silence with what felt like an eternity before Strachan finally spoke.

"This antagonism between the both of ye has gone too far! The both of ye are teammates now, and any conflict between each other only serves as a distraction. Now I hate to do this, but I'll have to notify the press about this little incident. It's as if we have enough to be ashamed about, what with the small part of our fan base that we'd rather not have." He stayed silent for a few seconds and said, "Yer're professional footballers, not brawlers, understand? I will not have any fighting between my players going on during the season. You're not playing for any small team, you're playing for one of the most respected clubs not only in Scotland, Britain and Europe, but in the whole world, and to have two players getting into a fight because one was a sore loser is damaging to our reputation!" He stayed silent for a few moments while Scott and Tai digested his very harsh words. Then he spoke again. "Now I hate to do this, but yer actions have forced me to come to decision. It hurts me to say this, but I'm suspending the both of ye for our upcoming Champions League match at Villareal. That means you can't come."

"_What_?" The both of them said in unison.

"Coach, you can't do that to us!" Scott replied.

"Come on, I gotta go--,"

"ENOUGH!!!" He yelled loud enough to silence them both. "I know yer're mad, but you'd better be glad I'm not kicking either of ye off the team. If the both of ye behave, I'll let the both of ye go to Manchester, got that? You don't have to like each other; just don't get into any more trouble! But I would also like it you would get over the fact that you lost, Kamiya. Yer're supposed to be an Olympian and here yer're getting into a fight with someone who beat ye. And Michaels, I don't want ye bragging about it either, got that?"

"But I coach, I wasn't--,"

"I don't care about that; you get my point, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Alright; now both of ye get out of my sight."

--

Although the car ride home from Celtic Park wasn't anything tense, since they both took separate cars, but the elevator ride to Scott's floor—which was two floors below Tai's—was the longest minute (or however long it takes for an elevator to take) of their lives. The antagonism between the two was bad enough that if any of them made a wrong move, well, then one of them would end up in the hospital in critical condition because one of them would have beat the shite out of the other. And a fat lip and a black eye were the only bruises they wanted. But luckily for either of them, the elevator ride ended for Scott who departed for his apartment. But we will follow Tai for now and then join Scott.

"Tai, you're back!" An excited Koromon--who had still not Digivolved back to Agumon—said as Tai entered his apartment. "Um, Tai, are you okay?"

"I think he's just tired from his match," said Sora. "Aren't you?"

"Yeah sure," he said as he sat down on the couch. But then Sora noticed the black eye he had and got worried about him.

"Tai, you're hurt!" She said.

"It's nothing," he said trying to drop the subject. But Sora wouldn't have any of it.

"Yes it is!" She said.

"Jeez, you're acting like my mom," he said.

"How'd you get it?" She asked as she got some ice from the freezer.

"Some Aberdeen player kneed me in the eye," he said to cover up what really happened. Then, silence. It wasn't a deadly silence that one notes that it's too quiet and then some cliché thing happens like a sneak attack. No, it was a silence that one hears after a lie is discovered or suspected. A tense silence, if you will.

"An Aberdeen player?" She asked, trying to verify.

"Yeah," he replied. The only problem is, it didn't work one bit. Sora walked over to him with her arms crossed and a look on her face that basically said, 'you're lying.'

"Tai," she said. "I saw the game. You didn't get kneed by an opposing player, what happened?" He stammered, trying quickly to cover up what happened, but he knew that she'd find out what it was; might as well fess up.

"I got into a fight with Scott Michaels," he said.

"How?"

"One of the players asked if we had a history, and then Michaels had to mention that the US beat Japan in the Olympics, which made me mad. Things kind of got escalated from there on and I ended up punching him and he ended up punching me, and things turned into a mess. And now I've been suspended for our match against Villarreal!" Sora shook her head in plain disgust and then went back into the kitchen and emptied the ice bag that she had been preparing to put on Tai's eye. "Wait, why aren't you giving me that ice?"

"Because you don't deserve it Tai!" She yelled. "Kari's right, you need to stop acting like you did when we were DigiDestined and you tried to be the hero all the time! You need to think before acting, Tai."

"Jeez Sora, what do you want from me?"

"What do I want from you? I want you to stop being so impulsive and think for once! And second, this hatred of Scott Michaels has got to stop! Sure, he may have helped his team beat yours and he did punch you back, but please get over it and forgive him!"

"Who do you think you are, Jesus?" He asked. Neither he or Sora were Christians, but he felt the analogy was good enough.

"No, but I know when something's gone on long enough. And this hatred towards a teammate has gone on long enough!"

"Jeez, you're worse than my mom and Kari!" He said.

"You know Tai," she said. "I don't care. This isn't 'Fight Club'; you can't take your anger out physically. The world doesn't work that way." She turned around and walked away from Tai. "I don't know what to do with you."

"Then why did you stay with me?" He asked. "Do you still have any regrets about staying here?" She stopped and paused for a moment to think. Then she said the same thing she said the day the rest of the DigiDestined left for Japan.

"Not a damn one".

--

Scott got off the elevator first (A/N: this takes place before Tai's argument with Sora) and walked away as the elevator door closed on him and Tai. The building's halls were lined with fine carpeting, giving the building its sorta-swanky aesthetic. But we're not talking about the appearance of an apartment building in Glasgow; we're talking about a soccer player. So, Scott walked down the halls to his apartment with his fat lip and carrying his soccer gear when he noticed a familiar-looking blur walk past him. Turns out the blur recognized him, too.

"Scott?" He turned around in an instant and recognized whom it was.

"Oh, Maggie," he said. "What's up?"

"Oh, not much," she said. She took one look at Scott's fat lip and said, "What happened tae ye?"

"Oh, some Aberdeen player kicked me in the face," he lied. She figured it out it was a lie instantly, much like Sora (although chronologically, the Tai and Sora bit happened a bit later).

"Yer're lyin' tae me, ya nugget," she said.

"All right, alright," he said. "You caught me. I got into a fight with one of my teammates."

She sighed in exasperation and said, "Och, ye _are _a nugget," she said.

"What's a nugget?" He asked. Despite the fact that he had figured out a few things about the local dialect, he still couldn't figure out a few things about the Glasgow Patter, as it's called.

"It means yer're and idiot," she said.

"Jeez," he said. "What are you, my mom?"

"I might as well be," she replied. "So what happened, anyway?"

"He's mad at me because my team beat his in the Olympics."

"Oh, ye played for the United States, right?"

"Yeah,"

"I watched that game, that was a great goal, Mr. Michaels. But in all seriousness, ye shouldn't have gotten in that fight anyway."

"I had to defend myself, anyway!"

"Does that give ye the moral high ground?" She replied.

"No, I guess not," he said. "The bad part is, I've been suspended for the game against Villareal."

"Well, now I hope ye learned yer lesson," she said. "So he's mad at ye because the US beat Japan, eh?"

"Yeah, and it seems as though he keeps on getting reminded of it," he said.

"And maybe yer're eggin' him on," she said. "The world isn't 'Fight Club", ye could get in trouble fer fightin' someone, ye know. This isn't the murder capital of the UK fer no reason, ye know."

"Yeah, sure."

"Are ye even listening?" She asked. "Look, just put some ice on that and think about the consequences of yer actions. So I'll see ye later?"

"Yeah, sure." He said as she walked away. He began to think that despite the long lecture, she was a very interesting young woman. A few minutes later, he returned to his apartment and dropped his athletic bag on the floor. He trudged over to the couch and sat down, turned on the TV and began flipping channels, looking for a channel that showed a game that his little brother Jimmy was playing in.

End chapter 2.

So what did you think about the chapter? I know there wasn't much soccer/football/futbol action, but it's only the second chapter, after all. There's a whole lot more to come, so please stay tuned for the next chapter and I'll get it up soon. Probably once F.I.N.A.L.S. are over.

Reviews would be very much appreciated.


	3. Redemption

Getting yelled at by your manager, and your friends is one thing, but when all (Well, almost all) of Scotland's sports journalists are after your head, it's even worse to get suspended. The day after Scott and Tai got into their tousle, the news broke of the fight and that they were suspended, and they had to deal with countless sports pundits and writers criticizing the both of them for their actions. As if getting yelled at by Gordon Strachan as well as Sora and Maggie weren't enough! And now they suspected that some Rangers fans might start singing songs insulting the both of them for the fight they got into. Hell, not just Rangers fans, but fans from all over the Scottish Premier League!

But was even worse for Scott was that one of his friends from college told him that he was going to be discussed on _Pardon The Interruption_, _Jim Rome is Burning _and _Around The Horn_ (sports discussion shows on ESPN). Great! Tai himself could not escape the wrath of the Japanese sports media, and they were particularly harsh on him. But it was Kari's reaction that he knew would be far worse. Hell, not just his sister, but their mom, too! He didn't want her to come all the way to Scotland just to keep an eye on him! He's 21 years old, he's been on his own for sometime, he—but the narrator is getting ahead of himself.

So Tai got a computer with a built-in web cam so he could talk to Kari, who also had one of them. Thank you, Silicon Valley.

Since Japan's time is nine hours ahead of Great Britain, Tai had to get a hold of Kari at about 12:00 Glasgow/London time, which is 9:00 Tokyo time.

"Hey, Tai!" She yelled into the webcam. For some reason, she was being a little more perky than usual. It must have been because she was so excited to see him. "How ya doin'? How's Scotland treating you? Are you eating well?"

"Jeez, Kari, first off, who made you mom, and second, why are you asking why I'm eating well, and third, why are you so perky?"

"Oh, no reason!" She said. "So anyway, I wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm doing fine," he said. "I got into a little bit of trouble, but it's nothing."

"Nothing?" She said. "I heard about what happened, Tai. What made you want to fight this guy? A lot of good it did you anyway!"

"Jeez, Kari!"

"Don't 'jeez Kari' me, Tai!" She said. "Sora's probably told you this, but you need to act your age instead of getting into petty fights!"

"Come on Kari," he said. "Do you have any idea how vicious the Scottish media can be? It's only noon here and I've already heard of 14 sports writers and pundits tear me to pieces!"

"Well, maybe you deserved it! And give Scott Michaels a break, for cryin' out loud. Sure, he fought back and therefore lost the moral high ground, but you are being a sore loser!"

"You too? Do you have any idea how many people have been telling me that?"

"If it will get you to end this little feud with him, then let the fury fly!"

"'Let the fury fly'? What does that even mean?"

"I don't know I made it up. So moving on, I got great news!"

"Oh yeah, what?"

"Oh, it's nothing!" Wait, why would she say she has great news if she's not going to say anything? But then he noticed a mark on her neck; a big one that looked a hell of a lot like a bruise. And Tai's big brother instincts kicked in.

"Kari, did someone hurt you?" He asked. She looked at the web cam in confusion, but he cleared it up by saying, "What's that mark on your neck?"

She felt her neck and then said, "Oh, then I guess I should tell you my news! Come here, honey-bunch!" Honey-bunch? The silliness of the name made him cringe and the implications of the name made him just as suspicious. Sure enough, there he was. "T.K.'s my new boyfriend!" She said with a beaming face. T.K.'s goofy smile as he held Tai's little sister in his arms unlocked some anger deep in Tai's psyche and made him, well, to put it mildly, mad.

"What the hell!" He yelled. Kari and TK still held on to each other like teenage lovers. Technically, they were teenagers, but since they were in college, they're more like young adults.

"We started dating 2 months ago!" She said in an almost gleeful tone of voice. Wait, two months!

"You mean you two have been dating for two months and you didn't tell me?" He screamed.

"Oh Kari, I'm so happy for you and TK!" Sora said while trying to calm Tai down.

"Thanks, Sora!" She replied. "Just try and keep Tai from hurting TK, okay?"

"No problem," she said. Tai was still yelling, saying how he'd kill T.K. if he dared get frisky with Kari. But judging by the mark on her neck, they've already gotten frisky; _very _frisky. Of course the 'if you dare hurt my little sister, I'll kick your ass' threat was much more effective, and it made poor TK uncomfortable. Don't worry, TK's not going to hurt Kari. "We'll try to keep in touch okay? And just to let you know, Tai was suspended, so he's not going to be playing at Villarreal, but neither is Scott Michaels."

"It's a shame, really," said TK. Tai flashed a look that essentially said, 'fuck off and die' right at the screen.

"Don't worry about Tai," said Sora, trying to reassure TK. "It's just that he loves Kari and he doesn't want to see her hurt by anybody, that's all."

"Well, tell him I don't intend to hurt Kari," he said. He's telling the truth. Honest! If he did hurt her, it'd be an accident and Tai would still make a big deal of it.

"Well, I hope so, because if you do, you'll have Tai to answer to."

"That's what scares me," he said. "Alright, I think Kari wants to talk to Tai again."

"Okay, then. Hey, Tai! TK is going to let you talk to Kari again!" Tai and Kari both went back to the screen of the computers they were sitting at.

"So how are things going otherwise?" She asked him.

"Not too bad, despite my suspension," he replied.

"Well maybe it will teach you a lesson, Tai," she replied. "You can't-,"

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" He said. He had no intention of getting lectured today one bit.

"Well, good, I hope you learned your lesson!" Shouldn't he being the one saying that to her? "Well, I gotta go now, take care, Tai."

"Take care, Kari."

Two floors below, Maggie managed to find Scott's apartment. It took her a while, but she located the apartment, she found out that it wasn't too far from hers, which made her feel kind of silly. So she knocked on the door and waited a few moments before Scott answered.

"Oh, Maggie, what's up?" He asked. He was eating something, but Maggie couldn't put her finger on it.

"Hello Scott," she said. "Um… what are ye eatin'?" He looked behind him for moment as though looking at someone for verification and then said,

"Seaweed."

"Seaweed? Why are ye eatin' that?"

"Strachan gives us dietary advice," he replied. "He said that part of his success as a player was eating seaweed. So, I thought I might as well try that."

"Really?" She asked. "What does it taste like?"

"I don't know," he replied. "It's kind of hard to describe the taste. Kinda salty, I guess"

"Salty?" She asked. He nodded in way that said, 'kind of'. So, Maggie changed the subject. "So how's the suspension going?"

"Not good," he replied. "The Scottish media is all over me."

"Yeah, we can be pretty harsh."

"Not only that, but I'm going to be mentioned in the States on ESPN."

"That doesn't sound so bad." He took a swallow and said,

"Oh, those guys on ESPN can be pretty nasty, particularly Jim Rome. In fact, I'm not the only one who hates him because of that."

"Really?" She asked. "Is he hated?"

"He's pretty polarizing," he said. "And I must agree with the Jim Rome haters, because he is a douchebag."

"Strong words!" She said.

"And they're justified, too. He hates _futbol_ for no good reason. Even my brother Jimmy, who plays American football, and is indifferent towards _futbol _hates Jim Rome."

"Really? He doesn't like football?"

"Nope. Jimmy will watch it if it's on, but Jim Rome hates it."

"Wow, he is a douchebag."

"And that's just the tip of the iceberg. He's also arrogant; although that could be a factor in the fact that he's a douchebag."

"What about the others?" She asked, trying to change the subject with her grandmother's advice of 'if ye don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all' in mind.

"_Pardon the Interruption _and _Around the Horn_ aren't too bad," he said. "At least they're funny."

"Funny?"

"Yeah, at times, but I still don't like the fact that they're going to be talking about me. Hell, my mom and dad will probably be just as pissed, but Jimmy might not be."

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Oh, he's crazy," he said. "But I'm not sure who to be more afraid of; the media, my grandma my aunt or my mom."

"Why's that?"

"Oh, my aunt, grandma and mom can make you feel like shit! Of course, I'm not too sure about my one uncle, he's… well… let's just say he's different."

"How different?"

"You don't want to know," he said, trying to end the conversation. "You _really _don't want to know."

"Why, is he—,"

"I said you don't want to know!"

"Okay, okay, I won't ask. So are ye going to apologize to Kamiya?" Scott looked at her with a look that simply said, 'are you crazy?' "So yer're not."

"Most likely." He replied. She was thoroughly disgusted with Scott's statement. Probably a little bit of an overreaction, but she was right to be unhappy with him.

"So how's that fat lip doing?" She asked,

"It's a little better," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because ye deserved it!" She said as she walked away in a huff.

"Oh come on," he yelled back as she left. "That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

As any athlete can tell you, the worst part about being is not only about the fact that you can't play, but the fact that if your team is losing, then you wish that if only you weren't suspended, you could help your team. That's what happened with Scott and Tai when Celtic played at Villarreal on September 30th. Although the match was tied at halftime, Villarreal took the lead in the 66th minute on a goal by Marcos Senna on a free kick. Villarreal was able to hang on for the rest of the match while Scott and Tai watched helplessly in Glasgow as the minutes climbed from 66 to 90 (not counting extra time). Celtic had some good shots, but in the end, Villarreal hung on for a win at Estadio El Madrigal. With Celtic's next Champions League match at Manchester United and the famed Old Trafford, the Bhoys would be hard-pressed to pull off an upset of the best club in the world at United's home ground. Of course, they still had their two Scottish Premier League against Hamilton Academical and a road match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in between the matches against Villarreal and Manchester United.

We now rejoin the action on the Thursday after the Villarreal match. The match was on a Tuesday. But anyway, we rejoin the story with Scott and Tai looking at the hardware in the Celtic Park trophy room.

"Wow," said Scott, considering it was the only thing he could say at the moment because of the sheer amazement of the trophies. The hardware ranged from various tournament trophies to SPL trophies, the Scottish Cup, the League Cup to the European Cup won in 1967. Granted, it was a smaller version, but it was still a source of pride for any Celtic fan in Scotland or abroad. But they were not alone. Sora had come with Tai because she wanted him to apologize to Scott. Too bad it didn't go over too well.

"Are ye impressed?" Dr Reid asked.

"Oh yeah," said Tai.

"Good then," Dr. Reid said. "I'm making the both of ye see this because I want the both of ye tae know what yer're representing." The two of them stopped admiring the pieces of hardware and looked at Dr. Reid. "The both of ye getting intae that fight hurt our club's reputation, probably not as bad as that small percentage of fans we'd rather not have, but still bad enough. But Strachan and I are willing tae give the both of ye another chance."

"What is that?" Sora asked. She wasn't being addressed, but she asked anyway.

"If the both of ye perform well against Hamilton and Inverness, Strachan might consider giving the both of ye starting positions, even after that little incident."

"Wait, starting position?" Tai asked with interest. It took him maybe a few seconds to a minute before the thought hit him. Then, when it finally did, he raised his arms in triumph and yelled, "FINALLY!"

"Don't get yer hopes up!" Reid said. Tai calmed down when he said that, as if his proverbial balloon was popped. "If the both of ye behave yerselves and don't get intae any more fights as well as good performance, he'll let at least one of ye start at Old Trafford. He told me this himself."

"You want us to become friends?" Scott asked. "Because I'm not sure that's going to happen any time soon."

"Ye don't have tae like each other," he said. "Ya just have tae tolerate each other." His words echoed that of Strachan's when he suspended them.

"Well I really want to get past this," said Scott. "I've been torn apart by ESPN and my Grandma, and my strange uncle!"

"Yer strange uncle?"

"Don't ask," he said to try and quash the conversation.

"Alright then," said Dr. Reid. "Ya both better be glad Strachan only suspended ye for the match against Villareal. He could have suspended ye both fer longer."

"Which is what happened to me with the National team," said Scott. "Coach Bradley told me I was suspended until 2009!"

"Really?" Tai said with a slight tone of glee in his voice.

"Well, considering my performance in the Olympics—and I hate to bring this up in front of you—the US Soccer board felt that kicking me off the team permanently was a little harsh. Especially since Coach Bradley was my biggest supporter in that meeting!" Said Scott.

Tai took a breath and said, "Well, I guess I got the same problem he has. The JFA has also suspended me until the beginning of '09 too. The JFA was close to kicking me out permanently but I guess like him they thought it was too much."

"Now you see?" Sora said in Japanese. "He got the same punishment you did." She said this to try and show him that Scott wasn't getting off easy.

"Ya do know that the both of ye got off relatively easy, don't ye?" Said Reid. "Strachan was going to try and give ye both starting positions at some point but yer little tousle almost made him reconsider. Ye'd both better be grateful that he's not changing his mind, got that?"

"Yes sir," said Scott.

"Yes sir," said Tai.

"Alright, then. Strachan will want to see the both of ye in practice, all right? You can go now."

That week's match against Hamilton Academical at Celtic Park would be the match that proved Scott and Tai's worth. Despite the fact that he might have been reluctant to do so, Strachan sent Tai in as a substitute to replace Marc Crosas in the 46th minute and Scott came in at the same time to replace Luke Chapman. Celtic was leading the Accies 2-0 at the time, thanks to two goals from Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura and Greek forward Georgios Samaras in the 26th and 37th minutes, respectively. The Hamilton shirt was sort of like Celtic's hoops, but they were red instead of green. But at this match, they were wearing their third colors, which were essentially the Brazil colors along with blue socks. We now join the action in the 60th minute with Hamilton on the attack.

The Accies had the ball past midfield. Irish midfielder James McCarthy was currently with the ball, and was being defended by Scott Michaels and Shunsuke Nakamura. McCarthy attempted to pass to James midfielder McArthur, which got through to him, McArthur then tried to get past the Celtic defense, but Scott Michaels came out of nowhere and made a great tackle against McArthur—and a clean one, too—to send him tumbling on the Celtic Park pitch and preventing Hamilton from scoring in that second, but it wasn't done. Alex Neil, also a midfielder, got his foot (pun not intended) next and tried to zig-zag his way past Stephen McManus, but McManus managed to prevent him from doing so, sneaking his foot between Neil's feet and nudging the ball away.

Scott then took the ball from McManus and punted it down field where Tai was waiting with Accies defender David Elbert. The two of the jumped up to try and head the ball either away from the goal or towards it. Tai and Elbert both headed the ball at the same time, sending the ball to the right, where Scott McDonald managed to get a hold of it. McDonald then passed it to Tai, who had two Hamilton defenders on him. He faked right, then left, then right again, the fake to the right is what got the Hamilton defender to fall for his bluff, allowing Tai to get past the defender. Even with two more defenders ahead of him, Tai still had a clear shot at the goal, which he took from about 25 yards out. He kicked the ball hard and right towards the upper right of the goal, but Czech goalkeeper Tomáš Černý managed to deflect the ball just in time by making a dive to his left. Tai's attempt to score his first SPL goal failed.

But it wasn't his only attempt in the game. About 16 minutes later, Celtic had possession again. This time, Scott Michaels had the ball, up against Hamilton defender David Elebert. Scott faked to the right and then to the left, but Elebert managed to stay on him. With no shot at the goal, Scott kicked the ball down the width of the field to Scott McDonald. The Aussie attempted to get past the Hamilton defender, but was up against a brick wall. Instead, he passed to the nearest striker, which happened to be—you guessed it—Tai. Tai charged the ball as hard as he could and as soon as he got to it, he fired a shot from 20 yards out. This time, Černý had no chance to make the save as the ball sailed into the upper right corner of the net.

"_He scores! Tai Kamiya has scored his first Scottish Premier League goal and it come in the 76th minute against Hamilton Academical!_"

To say Tai was excited would be to put it very mildly. He was, well, it's kind of hard to describe. But I guess it was a combination of jubilation, glee, excitement and whatever feeling of happiness you can think of. Of course, it's somewhat easy to lose yourself, which is what did—in a way—but luckily he stopped in time for the next kick-off. The Celtic Park faithful were in a frenzy after Tai's goal, and it wouldn't take long for them to go wild again.

In the 83rd minute, Celtic were on attack again. This time, Scott McDonald passed to Shaun Maloney ten yards out. Maloney then teed it up for Scott Michaels to come in and fire a rocket past Černý—which he had no chance of stopping—into the lower left corner of the goal for his first Celtic goal.

"_And it's 4-nil to Celtic with the American Bhoy's first SPL goal just 6 minutes after Japanese newcomer Taichi Kamiya, Scott Michaels with a rocket past Černý to give the Celts a commanding lead!_"

With Scott's goal being the clincher, Celtic went on to cruise to a 4-0 victory over Hamilton to improve their SPL record to 6-1-1.

"That was great goal, Tai!" Kari said the next day. "Maybe your coach will let you off easy!"

"I was already let off easy," he said back. "The worst punishment I got was being suspended from the national team."

"Well it serves you right for getting into a fight!" She said.

"Can we get over this now?" He asked with fatigue in his voice. Not physical fatigue, but fatigue at the fact that this should have been over sometime ago.

"Okay, I'll stop with it. So how did you feel when you scored?"

Tai stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to find out what to say. To be honest, he didn't know how he could describe it. "I don't know," he said. "It just felt… great, that's all I can say."

"So… what does that mean?"

"It just means he was excited Kari," said Sora, who was now in the view of the web cam. "He probably just doesn't know how to describe how he felt."

"That makes sense," said Kari. "Would you describe it as that?"

"Yeah, I guess so," he said. "So the chairman said that if I perform well against Hamilton and then Inverness, he'll let me start at Manchester United."

Kari's face at first looked blank as a chalkboard in August before the look changed to that of excitement for her brother. "Really!" She said. "He'd going to let you start at Manchester United?"

"Yeah, if I perform well and behave myself," he said. "I guess the performing well is going good."

"Well you scored," she said. "I guess that might work. But what about behaving yourself?" She said with a bit of slyness in her voice.

"Are you implying that I'll get into a fight?" He asked.

"Oh, no no," she said to try and cover it up. "I think you'll done fine," She said. But then the door knocked and she knew that the conversation was over. "Oh, that's TK. We're going out to a movie tonight!" Stupid TK! "Well, see you later, Tai!"

"Goodbye-," her screen turned off before he even had a chance to finish his sentence. "Kari."

It was the Friday before the Inverness match. Sora had come to Inverness to see Tai for the first time live. She had only seen him on TV and now she had a chance to actually see him. Sure, she had obtained tickets for the match against Manchester United on November 5th, but she wanted to see him play soon. As she stood on a bridge over looking the River Ness (A/N: Don't ask me which one) she felt in her heart a sense of wonder of the place she was in. On the way to Inverness, she had traveled through the famed Scottish Highlands. Looking at those picturesque views gave the young woman chills down her spine. Sure, Japan had spectacular natural beauty, but the fact that she was getting to see another country's splendor just made her feel… I don't know.

But anyway, she knew that she had no regrets staying in Scotland, even though her mother had wanted her to stay in Japan. But her mother knew that Sora was a grown woman, and she let her daughter stay with Tai in Glasgow.

At the moment, it was 10 o' clock at night. The team had gotten to Inverness sometime earlier in the day and some of the players may have been at the pubs. But since Strachan didn't allow them to drink too much, they were probably at the hotel. She had decided to take a walk to see what Inverness was like. She was kind of tired, which was why she was standing on a bridge over the River Ness. Of course, she was also wondering if Yokomon and Koromon were behaving themselves in Glasgow. Then the sound of footsteps broke her out of her reverie. They were light footsteps, not heavy footfalls, so she knew it couldn't have been a man. She looked around to see who it was before she noticed a young woman around her age with a slim form and dark hair.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman said in her native Scottish accent. "I hope I didn't startle ye."

"That's okay" said Sora. "I know you didn't mean it."

"You don't look like yer're from around here," said the young woman as she walked up next to Sora.

"No, I'm not," said Sora. "I'm from Japan."

"Really?" The woman asked. "Ya don't sound like yer're from Japan. I don't hear an accent."

"I've been learning English since I was a little kid," Sora said. "My mom made me watch American cartoons so I picked up the accent from there."

"Oh, I see," said the woman. "By the way, I haven't introduced myself. My name's Margaret Gordon, but Maggie's fine."

"HI, Maggie," said Sora as she shook Maggie's hand. "My name's Sora, Sora Takenouchi."

"Nice tae meet ye, Sora," said Maggie. "So where in Japan are ye from?"

"I'm from Tokyo," she said. "I knew Tai Kamiya when we were growing up and I decided to stay here in Scotland."

"Oh really?" Maggie asked. "Why is that?"

"Oh, personal reasons," she said with a wink.

Maggie nodded her head in realization, and let it go. It was a woman thing. "By the way, ye said Tai Kamiya. He's not the lad who got intae a fight with Scott Michaels, is he?"

"Yes," said Sora. "Why do you ask?"

"I know Scott Michaels," she said. "Even though I haven't known him for very long, I've seen he can be kind of stubborn."

"Yeah, Tai's stubborn, too," said Sora. "But I guess that's something about him that I like about him. By the way, you said know Scott Michaels."

"Aye, I do," said Maggie. "I live on the same floor as him. I'm from Glasgow, by the way, I'm not from Inverness."

"Oh, okay," said Sora. "I just can't really tell the difference between Scottish accents."

"Ye'll get used tae it," said Maggie. She glanced at her watch and said, "Och, look at the time. I must be getting' going. I'll talk tae ye some other time, alright?"

"Sounds like fun," said Sora. "Why don't you give me your phone number?"

"Aye, I could do that," said Maggie. The two of them knew that this could be the beginning of a good friendship.

The next day, Celtic played Inverness at Caledonian Stadium. Caley wore their royal blue kits with a red strip across the top of the shirt, while Celtic wore their standard hoops/ Scott Michaels scored first in the 65th minute after substituting in the 64th minute to put Celtic up 2-0. Strachan was obviously pleased with Scott's tenacity right out of the gate for him. But it wasn't just the goal that got Strachan's attention; it was his hustle, as any coach wants to see. Scott ran circles around the Caley defense and offence, which showed Strachan it was clear that Michaels wanted the starter's position at Old Trafford. Tai, meanwhile, also performed superbly, especially with Sora in attendance with the Celtic contingent that traveled to Inverness. Although Tai didn't score, he did show some hustle, as well, coming very close to scoring late in the match, but he missed one shot and the other two were saved by the Caley 'keeper Michael Fraser. But overall, it was a good performance for both of them, as Celtic hung on for a 2-1 victory to consolidate their position at the SPL standings. Strachan knew that they would perform well in Manchester, especially with the injury situation.

Back at the hotel, Scott and Tai were told by trainers to meet with Strachan. The two of them were at first nervous, thinking that they had gotten into trouble again. But Strachan was smiling as they met him. "I'm guessing the both of ye are wonderin' why I called ye." They nodded in confirmation. "Well, I've seen the performance for the both of ye, and I've decided that since ye both have performed well and ye've behaved yerselves, I'll name the both of ye as starters for the Manchester United game." The two of them could not believe it! Two or three weeks ago, they were being blasted by the media and their families for that fight they got into, and now they were getting to start! At Manchester United! Despite the fact that they still didn't like each other, they both gave each other high fives in celebration.

"Wow, that's great, Tai!" Sora said. "I guess Strachan's forgiven you."

"I'll say! I can't believe I'm going to be in the starting lineup!" Tai said enthusiastically.

"I guess the both of you behaved yourselves enough, as well," she said in jest.

"Ye'll be starting?" Maggie said in total surprise.

"Yeah, at Old Trafford," said Scott.

"Wow, I didn't know yer manager would let ye," she said.

"Dr. Reid told me that if I behaved myself and performed well, I'd be up for consideration." He said. "I didn't know it would be that fast."

"Well, ye see where good behavior can get ye," she said. "Now if only ye'll apologize tae Kamiya!" She said, also in jest.

End chapter

So, how'd you like the chapter? It took me a while to complete due to F.I.N.A.L.S. last week and a frickin' power outage! So for the next chapter, I'll be going over the match at Old Trafford. I'll try to get it in soon, okay. Thank ye.

Mon the Hoops!


	4. Battle of Britain, Round 1

Old Trafford in Manchester, England

October 21, 2008

In the visitors' locker room at the legendary Old Trafford, the members of Celtic F.C. waited to go onto the pitch. Some of the players were nervous, as they had not been here before, others were perfectly calm. They were wearing their road kits, which looked strangely like the kits for the Australian national football team. Any Socceroos out there will know what that is. The shirt was yellow with green piping on the collar and the sleeves with the Celtic crest on the left breast and the Nike Swoosh in green on the right. The shorts were green with the players' number in white on the left leg and the Celtic crest on the right. The numbers and player names on the back were black due to UEFA rules about number visibility. The player names were arched over the numbers and were all in lower-case letters. The socks were yellow with green piping on the top rim. Finally, they were given the go-ahead to go onto the pitch.

They walked through the halls of Old Trafford until they reached the players' tunnel, where they encountered the players for Manchester United, who wore their red shirts with the AIG logo on the front (It must have sucked for them to be sponsored by AIG considering what happened later) with white shorts and white socks. At the top of the shirt was the Red Devil in black on a white background, which came down the shirt in a white stripe with a thin black line down it. It paused for the players name and number before continuing on the tail of the shirt with MUFC and then the thin black line down the white stripe again.

But anyway, let's move on. Among the Celtic players were American midfielder Scott Michaels and Japanese forward Taichi Kamiya. After about a month-and-a-half of frustration, including getting into a fight with each other that resulted in a suspension for the Villarreal match, they were finally getting to start at the famed Old Trafford. To say they were excited would be an understatement.

Scott was thinking if only his grandpa could see him now. Sure, his parents were most likely watching, and his little brother Jimmy most likely was as well, despite the younger Michaels' disinterest in soccer. While waiting for the signal to enter the pitch, Scott looked to his left and saw that we was standing next to none other but Manchester United's golden boy Cristiano Ronaldo. Scott's eyes were fixed on the guy, who looked at Scott and gave him 'what's up' nod, which Scott returned before looking away. Holy shit! He was standing next to the best soccer player in Europe! It wasn't anything romantic; it was just nervousness on Scott's part. Here he was at Old Trafford! What was he getting himself into? He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he remembered his dad's advice that he gave to him and Jimmy.

"_Whatever you do, don't get nervous before a game. You'll perform badly and you'll make mistake after mistake. If you do get nervous, just think that it's only another game and nothing special._"

Scott heeded his dad's advice. He thought to himself, _it's only a game, just like any other._ That it of thinking managed to calm him down until he thought, _I wonder if Maggie—no! Stop, Scott. She most likely is watching, but you need to focus! Remember, it's only a game. Take a couple of deep breaths and remember it's only a game, just like any other._ Scott took those deep breaths and felt himself calm down a little bit.

"Mister?" A small to his right said. He looked down at the little kid, one of the match day mascots that was holding his hand. "I'm nervous," the kid said in his Manchester accent.

"So am I," he said. "But I'm not trying to think about that right now."

A bit back in the line, Tai Kamiya was also nervous. He was standing next to Man U striker Wayne Rooney. Tai was doing his best not to shake in his cleats, but unfortunately, he could feel his feet shaking. He thought about his friends and family back in Japan. Were they watching? He knew Sora was watching, because she said she was watching. The nerve-wracking was probably worse than the Bronze Medal match at the Olympics. Sure Japan lost that, but the feeling of nervousness matched what he was feeling right now.

_Stay calm Tai,_ he thought to himself. _Take deep breathes and think of something else. This is just another game._ But this wasn't just another game, and that was what kept him nervous. He couldn't think of anyone else who was making their first start in the frickin' Champions League! And at Old Trafford! When he was a kid, he dreamed of playing here, not on the opposition, of course! You'd think that his experience in life-or-death situations in the Digital World would give him experience for this, but apparently not!

Meanwhile, in Glasgow, Sora had invited Maggie over to watch the match with her. She had to hide Koromon and Yokomon, though, because she didn't know whether or not Maggie was a DigiDestined or not. At about 7:25 Glasgow time, she heard a knock on the apartment door. It was Maggie.

"Hello, Maggie," she said as she bowed in welcome.

"Hello, Sora," said Maggie. "Are ya ready for the match?"

"I sure am!" Sora said. The two the sat down on the couch and looked for the match on TV. They managed to find the match on STV, the only channel where the match was being broadcast free in Scotland.

Back in Manchester, the players were ready to go. Well, they were ready to go when they were brought to a utility corridor that opened up to the player's tunnel. For anyone who does not know where the players tunnel is, it's in a corner between the Stretford End and the Main Stand; in other words, the southwest corner of the stadium. Then, the players heard the music that they had been waiting for and got ready to enter the pitch. Then, the announcement came.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams! Will you please welcome Celtic and Manchester United!_" The players were then given the signal to leave the players tunnel and enter the field. As the players left the tunnel, led by the FIFA officials and their respective team captains Gary Neville for Manchester United and Stephen McManus for Celtic) and holding the hands of the match day mascots, a deafening roar surrounded them as they entered the pitch onto the field. Although a fanfare was playing over the PA system, the players could barely hear it, since it was being drowned out by the crowd noise. The two teams then proceeded to walk to the midfield line a few yards in front of dugout. Manchester United stopped where they were, while Celtic lined up right next to them on the other side of the field. The two teams were finally in one line with the officials standing between the teams as the crowd noise at Old Trafford continued.

Then, the UEFA Champions League anthem began, which just increased the roar of the crowd. For neophytes Scott and Tai, this was practically a dream come true for them, being able to play in one of the biggest stages in soccer and in one of the most famous arenas at that. A contingent of volunteers flapped the UEFA Champions League logo in the centre circle, a tradition for every match.

"_Ils sont les meilleurs _

_Sie sind die Besten _

_These are the champions _

_Die Meister _

_Die Besten _

_Les Grandes Équipes _

_The Champions!"_

Back in Glasgow, Sora and Maggie were applauding for Scott and Tai. For their friends to be here, in the Champions League, it was just an immense feeling of pride for the both of them.

In Manchester, Scott and Tai could barely contain themselves, and Scott, who had been trying so hard, finally cracked a big smile. But the player next to him, Aiden McGeady, told him to calm down. Tai also could barely contain himself, but unlike Scott, he did not smile. Well, maybe just a little. Then, the anthem ended, and the people flapping the Champions League logo at midfield departed the field while Celtic and Manchester United shook hands. Although they most likely couldn't hear them, there were 4,000 Celtic fans in attendance that night in the upper part of the East Stand of Old Trafford, But they were going: "(Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap-clap) _Celtic!"_ and repeating this chant several times. Then, the two teams posed for a ceremonial photo before running into their ends to begin preparations for the start of the match. Manchester United would defend the Stretford End. Celtic was in a 4-5-1 formation, which looked like this:

1 GK Artur Boruc

12 DF Mark Wilson

4 DF Stephen McManus

22 DF Glen Loovens

3 DF Lee Naylor

46 MF Aiden McGeady

5 MF Scott Michaels

6 MF Gary Caldwell

19 MF Barry Robson

25 MF Shunsuke Nakamura

16 FW Taichi Kamiya

While Manchester United was in a 4-4-2 formation, which lined up like this:

1 GK Edwin van der Sar

2 DF Gary Neville

15 DF Nemanja Vidić

23 DF Jonny Evans

22 DF John O'Shea

7 MF Cristiano Ronaldo

24 MF Darren Fletcher

8 MF Anderson

17 MF Nani

9 FW Dimitar Berbatov

10 FW Wayne Rooney

Before Celtic got into position, they got into the Celtic huddle which they do every game. "Alright buys," said McManus." Let's show these guys what where're made of all right? Let's go!" The players then broke the huddle and got into position. Scott would have gotten into position behind the centre circle, but Gary Caldwell called Scott to centre circle.

"Ya used tae kick off in college, right?"

"Yeah, I did," replied Scott.

"I know it's crazy," said Caldwell. "But yer're going to kick off."

"What me?" said Scott. "Sure!"

"Alright then. When the ref blows his whistle, that's when you start!" Caldwell had to yell a bit when trying to explain because of the noise. Then he dropped back to position. Scott looked around him. Aiden McGeady was on his right and Barry Robson was on the left. Then, to the roar of the crowd, the referee blew his whistle and Scott kicked the ball to Aiden McGeady. McGeady then took it up to midfield before sending the ball to Tai. Tai then tried to maneuver past Darren Fletcher, but he jammed his foot in between Tai's legs to get at the ball. Tai then tried to make a spin move to get past Fletcher, and was partially successful, getting it to his countryman Shunsuke Nakamura. Nakamura then snuck past Ronaldo, but Ronaldo managed to get the ball from Nakamura.

Now Manchester United had possession, much to the delight of the 72,212 that were not supporting Celtic. Ronaldo got past midfield but was confronted by Scott Michaels. Ronaldo tried to use some trickery to get past Scott, but he wasn't buying it, having settled down a little bit now. Scott instead stuck his foot in between Ronaldo's legs, which got the two tangled up for possession of the ball. Ronaldo kicked it out to Wayne Rooney, who took it past Scott, who then, knowing the Ronaldo no longer had the ball, went after Rooney, who passed to ball to Berbatov. He then won a free kick. The game was in the second minute. The ball was at the corner flag. Portuguese winger Nani kicked the ball from the corner but Celtic managed to clear. In the first two minutes, Celtic managed to stop a Manchester United score.

On to the twelfth minute; in this minute, Celtic had their best chance to score at that point in the game. Tai had the ball and was being pressured by Gary Neville and Jonny Evans. He faked to the right, and then faked to the left then back again to try and draw Evans ad Neville off, which partially worked, because Evans was caught, Neville wasn't. Tai then tried to pass to Scott, who found Aiden McGeady at the edge of the penalty box. He was confronted by John O'Shea but managed to jinx past him and fired a shot at van der Sar, who made the save. The Old Trafford crowd voiced their pleasure at McGeady's missed opportunity.

In the fifteenth minute, United came close to opening the scoring. During a failed attempt to score, Celtic conceded to ball to United in United's box. John O'Shea gave the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo who raced into Celtic territory with Scott in hot pursuit. Ronaldo tried some tricks again, but Scott wouldn't have it and tried to take the ball from Ronaldo, but was unsuccessful when Ronaldo successfully passed to Wayne Rooney who tried to make a cross pass, but Stephen McManus conceded the ball, giving United a corner kick. Nani, after a slight delay, kicked the corner, but Glen Loovens headed the ball over the bar, which resulted in a successful stop for Celtic.

Back in Glasgow, Maggie and Sora watched the match intently, groaning at every missed opportunity and every time United failed to score. "This is so nerve-raking!" Sora said.

"Aye," said Maggie. "This is a hard-fought match, it might go scoreless."

"If it does, at least we get a point out of it," said Sora. Maggie nodded in agreement and then the two ladies cheered when Tai got a hold of the ball in the seventeenth minute.

Speaking of which, Tai raced from the Celtic side of the field to the United side as fast as he could on the far side of the pitch. Anderson tried to get to him, but Tai managed to spin around with the ball between his feet and got past Anderson, but that slowed him down considerably. Darren Fletcher then tried intercepting Tai coming in at full speed, but Tai broke to the left to avoid Fletcher for a clear shot of the net. With an open shot, Tai fired a rocket right at the net, but Edwin van der Sar got enough of the ball to deflect it away. His opportunity wasted, Tai gave the turf a little kick in frustration. But he knew he'd get him sometime.

"Oh, man, that was a close one!" Sora said, almost in a sigh of disappointment. When Tai had the ball, she had jumped out of her seat and yelled 'go, Tai, go!' as he ran into the United end, but she crashed when van der Sar made the save for United.

"He was close!" Maggie said. "I thought he would score there."

"Well, it was a good chance, but he probably shot it too far out of the box for it have any chance to go in," said Sora.

"Aye, I guess yer're right," said Maggie.

Back in Manchester, United finally broke through. After battling through 29 minutes, United had a corner kick. Nani kicked the ball out to John O'Shea who received the ball and then flicked it to Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov, who was standing a bit offside who then nudged it in from six yards out into the goal. Celtic tried to call for an offside call, but the appeal was in vain; 1-nil to United. In a sense, that goal changed the flow of the game. Up until then, Celtic had battled hard, but now United's goal was giving them an air of anxiety. Artur Boruc, the goalkeeper, was furious, as was Strachan, who tried to appeal to the line judge that Berbatov was offside, but the appeals were ignored.

Meanwhile, Sora and Maggie watched in anger as Berbatov's goal went in, completely shocked that the official had not raised his flag for an offside. The two ladies shouted some very un lady-like things at the official in response, but since they were watching on TV, the official couldn't hear them.

Luckily for Celtic, that was the only goal United would score in that half, as Celtic managed to hold them for the rest of the first half. They did come close in the 39th minute when Scott Michaels had the ball in the United zone, defended by Cristiano Ronaldo.

"You want a piece of me?" Scott said in a rare lapse of judgment. But luckily for him, it didn't matter because thanks to a spin move he borrowed for his gridiron-playing brother, he managed to get past Ronaldo to advance towards the United box on the near side (A/N: near the dugout). With a clear shot, he fired a rocket right at the goal, but van der Sar managed to catch the ball, preventing the young American from evening the match up. Just like Kamiya, Scott was thwarted by the goalkeeping of Edwin van der Sar.

But despite the fact that United was running all over them, Celtic managed to keep the score the same until halftime. When the whistle finally stopped, Scott let out a sigh of relief and then bent over and grabbed his legs, panting in exhaustion. _These guys are fast!_ He thought to himself. _No wonder they're European champions!_

Tai, meanwhile, was also exhausted from that one half, although he hadn't done as much running as Scott. But, exhausted is exhausted, and he felt he needed a drink of water, fast. He walked up to Scott, who was bent over, and said, "You want to quit?"

Scott just shook his head and said, "No fucking way."

During halftime, the Celtic players rested before they would go out to play the second half. Strachan was telling them what they were doing wrong and what they were doing right. What they were obviously doing wrong was letting Manchester United get close to the goal. What they were doing right was containing United. During the break, Scott drank as many Gatorades as he could to try and finish. He was most likely going to have to go a lot later on! Tai, meanwhile, stayed quiet, unlike at the Olympics where he tried to rally his team in the second half; except the United States dominated that half. So he felt that if he stayed silent, the team would be able to rally from behind.

So the teams got the signal to come out for the second half a few minutes later. Scott had the misfortune of being next to Cristiano Ronaldo, who had become sort of a rival, who said, "Are you tired?" in his native Portuguese accent.

"A little," replied Scott. "But I'm energized enough to beat you."

Although Celtic fought valiantly in the first half, things would get worse in the second half. Although United did not go on a scoring spree, things went downhill from there on. It started in the 47th minute with Scott Michaels sprinting down the field in the United zone, attacking the east end of the stadium. Scott fired at van der Sar, but the ball sailed wide right past the net. Scott mentally kicked himself for that mistake. United would score again in the 51st minute. Scott had the misfortune of fouling Brazilian midfielder Anderson outside the zone, giving Manchester United the free kick. Luckily for him, the referee did not give him the yellow card. Cristiano Ronaldo took the kick, sending it at Boruc, who made the save, but a familiar face stepped in (not literally) as Berbatov slid home the rebound to give United a 2-0 lead and sending Old Trafford into a frenzy. Scott was furious at himself for allowing that to happen.

But it got worse for him 10 minutes later. It happened around midfield when Scott was fighting with Wayne Rooney for control of the ball. Both players' feet were trying to get the ball and then somehow they got tangled up, which tripped Scott. And then the last thing he saw before blacking out was the knee of an oncoming United player.

The next thing Scott remembered was when he came to a short time later, looking up at the Manchester sky with the club's trainers surrounding him. "Scott, are ye okay?" A voice said. Unfortunately for Scott, his vision was blurry and it felt as though the left side of his face hurt like hell. He tried to touch his eye, which told the trainers that he had regained consciousness. "Scott," said the same voice. "How many finger s am I holding up?"

Scott could barely see what fingers the guy holding up. "Um… four?" He asked.

"Two," said the trainer. Soon, Scott found himself being lifted up and made to sit up. He could see clearly out of his right eye, but his left eye was still blurry. At that point, the trainer pointed his light in Scott's eye.

"We'll have to take ye out," said the trainer. Scott had no other choice in the matter and he was lifted up onto his feet by the trainers who led him to Old Trafford's raised dugout. As he left the pitch, Scott heard the 76,212 fans at Old Trafford give him a cheer. He raised his arm to signal that he was okay, but his eye hurt like hell.

"Well, ye didn't get hit too badly," said the trainer who was pointing his light in Scott's eye. "From what it seems, Fletcher's knee hit ye below the eye, because there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it."

"What the hell happened," said Scott, who was still in a daze.

"Ye got kneed in the face," said the trainer, "By Darren Fletcher. It was an accident, though, he's probably sorry."

"I'm in the dugout, right?"

"Yep," he said. "Yer're probably going to have a black eye, but there probably won't be too much damage," he said. "I don't think ye hit hard enough to break any bones, so I think you'll be fine. Does it hurt really badly?"

"It hurts, but not too much," he said.

"Then ye might not have any broken bones," he said. "Although we'll probably have tae give ye an x-ray when we get back to Glasgow. Here, take this ice pack."

"Thanks".

With Scott out of the game, Celtic had to bring in Paul Hartley to replace him, and Shaun Maloney also came in to replace Nakamura. But for Tai, seeing Scott get kneed in the face, which is how he told Sora how he got the black eye, seemed very eerie, but things would go downhill for him, as well.

In the 76th minute, Tai was also driving down the field battling Darren Fletcher. Fletcher tried to reach into try and get the ball from Tai, but he kept the ball from Fletcher. Suddenly, Tai tripped on a loose piece of grass close to the goal and fell. Unlike Scott, he didn't come in contact with another player's knee when he came down flat on his face. Tai growled in anger as he tried to get up, but was kicked in the lower jaw by Cristiano Ronaldo. It was by accident obviously. Not wanting to look like a sissy, Tai got up off the turf but some pain around his lower lip forced him to put his hand to his mouth. Unfortunately for Tai, because he got up, it allowed United to race downfield and Wayne Rooney found the net with a low shot from 20 yards out to put United up 3-0.

Tai tried to continue on, but when he tried to spit, he noticed something that he did not want to see: blood mixed with his saliva. It was then that Tai realized he had been hit pretty badly and that kick was making him bleed either from inside the mouth or from the lip [1]. Due to the pain, Tai had to walk over to the Celtic sideline while Strachan hastily brought in Cillian Sheridan to replace him.

"Kamiya, are ya okay?" Strachan asked as Tai walked over to the dugout.

"I don't think so," Tai said as he spat up more blood. The trainers rushed over to Tai to inspect him.

"Looks like ye got hit pretty hard," said one trainer. The tone of his voice told Tai that something was wrong.

"Am I going to lose a tooth?" He asked.

"Doesn't look like it," he said. But from where ye got hit, just below the lower lip, ye might get a fat lip." A fat lip? That strangely reminded him of the injury he gave to Scott Michaels a few weeks ago. Was this karma being the bitch it usually is, or was this a coincidence?"

So for the remainder of the game, Scott and Tai watched from Old Trafford's elevated dugouts as their team suffered a humiliating defeat. Although they battled valiantly, Celtic eventually succumbed to its short-handedness and lost in a humiliating manner, as evidenced by Scott and Tai receiving a black eye and a fat lip, respectively; two injuries that were strangely symbolic of the defeat they suffered tonight. Worse yet, their scoreless streak in the Champions League continued, while United cruised to an easy victory, extending their unbeaten streak in the Champions League to 8 matches. At the same time, Celtic's European hopes dwindled with the loss, with them in dead last in Group E with only one point. But with Manchester United coming to Celtic Park in two weeks, Celtic had the chance to redeem themselves in front of the Celtic faithful.

When the team returned to Glasgow, both Scott and Tai were examined by doctors to see if their injuries were serious or not. Luckily for both of them, their injuries weren't too serious. Scott would simply have a black eye and Tai would just have a fat lip. No broken bones or anything.

When Tai got back to his apartment (he had gone straight to the doctor after getting back to Glasgow) Sora was waiting for him. And she had a genuinely worried look on her face that Tai had not seen in years, making it clear that A) she had seen the match and B) she was upset to see him get hurt. "How is it, Tai?" She asked in a caring voice.

"The doctor said it's just going to be a fat lip," he said. "I don't have a broken jaw."

"Well that's good," she said. She went straight to the freezer and pulled out an ice pack. "Here, I'll help you with this."

Tai tried to refuse her generosity, saying, "No, that's okay, I'll get one myself." But his refusal went ignored when she placed to ice pack on his mouth. It was this act of kindness and the strange tenderness of the moment that caused Tai to blush like a teenager at the softness of Sora's touch. Why was she helping him like this? Wasn't she Matt's girlfriend, what going on? A thousand thoughts raced through his mind until a feeling he had buried years ago that ate away at him for that long a time resurfaced: he was in love with Sora Takenouchi. And here she was, in Glasgow, Scotland, 9,275 km (5,763 mi) from their home in Tokyo, with him!

But an unfortunate indecisiveness and in a sense, stupidity, mostly due to the fact that he buried and denied his feelings for Sora for goodness-knows how long prevented him from telling her how he felt about her. And it was that factor that panged him the most. He had let her go to Matt after they managed to beat MaloMyotismon because he didn't want to hurt his friendship with Matt and he wanted her to be happy. But it was obvious that it cost him a great deal emotionally, enough that to get away from the guilt that he buried himself in his soccer playing.

But was he going to quit soccer now that he realized he still had feelings for her? Fuck no! The truth is, denial or no denial, he still loved to play soccer, even before Sora had started dating Matt, and his love of soccer was genuine, just as his love for Sora. He was here to succeed, and god damn it, he was going to succeed!

When Scott returned to his apartment, he did not have Maggie there waiting for him, since she did not live in the same apartment as him. But she did come to see him about 20 minutes after he got back. When he heard the knock on the door, he thought it was someone else, but he was genuinely surprised to see Maggie there. "What are you doing here?" he asked her in a curious, and non-hostile tone of voice.

"I came to check on ye," she said. "I saw ye take that hit; that must have hurt."

"It still hurts," he said. "But the doctor said I don't have any broken bones."

"Well that's good," she said. "Do ye have any ice packs?" Scott was surprised at the frankness of her question and asked,

"Why?"

"Tae put it on yer eye, that's why!" She said.

"I think I do…" he didn't get to finish his sentence as Maggie went straight for his kitchen with out even getting his approval. Although she was always welcome in his apartment any time, so it didn't really matter. She found the ice pack, put a few ice cubes in it and brought it over to Scott.

"Here, put this on yer face," she said. "It will help tae make the swelling go down."

"Um, okay, just let me—," he tried to tell her that he would put it on himself, but instead she placed the ice pack on his face herself, which caught him off guard. And just like Tai, he suddenly began blushing, turning as red as Rudoph's nose, maybe even redder than that. But Maggie ignored his blush, and kept the pack on his face. Then a strange and unknown feeling began to rise in his chest, a feeling that he had never felt before in his life. It felt almost like butterflies in his stomach, and strange warmth in his chest, and his heart beat rapidly. What was this feeling? Why was he feeling it around Maggie? And why did it feel so… good? Scott didn't know it at the time, but despite the fact that he had only known Maggie for a month and a half, he was feeling something extremely powerful, that he had never felt before, even in high school at New Trier.

Scott Michaels was in love.

End chapter

[1] I've been kicked in the mouth, so I know what it feels like. It hurts; a lot.

Okay, so, did everyone like that chapter? If anyone is pissed off at that final 1,000 or so words, then I'm sorry, but they're integral to the story. And for anyone who liked/loved those 1,000 words… you're welcome.

So next chapter is the big game against Manchester United at Celtic park! A game I've been planning and conceiving even before I got started on this story. I got it almost all figured out about how it's going to go, so trust me when I say that it's going to be good! Reviews would be (very much) appreciated.

Mon the Hoops!


	5. Battle of Britain, Round 2

Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland

November 5, 2008

It was silent in the Celtic Park dressing room. The players for the Celtic Football Club silently prepared for the coming match in their stadium against the best football/soccer club not only in Europe, but in the whole world, Manchester United F.C. After a humiliating defeat, the club rebounded with three straight wins, two in the Scottish Premier League and one in the Scottish League Cup. The most recent match was a 2-0 victory at Heart of Midlothian, where Scott Michaels and Tai Kamiya made their first SPL starts and their first start since getting a black eye and a fat lip, respectively at Old Trafford.

Manager Gordon Strachan was using the same starting XI from that game, so Scott and Tai, who started the game, were making their first Champions League home start. But the start for the two was out of necessity, because of Celtic's injury problem. But they didn't care. It was do or die tonight, an air of urgency hung over the players. If they lost, their European dreams were dead. If they tied, they'd have to pull off a miracle to at least make it to the UEFA Cup. But if they won… well, you get the picture.

Tai tried to focus on the game. All around him the players were in deep concentration. As any athlete can tell you, they had their game faces on. Scott, meanwhile, listened to some music to get himself pumped for the match. Both of them-hell, not just them, but the whole team-knew that big games are when legends are born, and tonight, they hoped to add their names to the list of Celtic legends. But the both of them knew that their love interests, Maggie Gordon and Sora Takenouchi, would be in the stands tonight.

_Flashback_

"Are you coming to the game tonight?" Tai asked Sora as he was about to leave for Celtic Park.

"You know I am," she said. "I'm going with a friend of mine."

"Good," he said. "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," she said as he left.

"You're coming to the game, right?" Scott asked Maggie.

"Of course I am," she replied. "Do ya think I'm a nugget?"

"Ha ha, no."

"Then I'll be there, trust me."

"Then wish me luck," he said.

"Good luck Scott," she said as he walked down the hallway. "Yer're gonna need it."

_End flashback_

Speaking of the two, they had found their seats sometime during the warm-up. The two sat in the north stand, close to midfield, about three rows from the pitch. The stadium wasn't completely filled, but there was electricity in the air that comes with every big game. In the southeast corner of the stadium, they noticed the contingent of Manchester United fans who had made the trip from Manchester (or just from wherever) to watch the game.

But now, it was very close to kick-off. At this point, the stadium was filled to capacity with 60,000 Celtic fans ready to go. The stadium was filled with young kids, young adults, people in their forties, in other words people of all ages. Prior to the players leaving warm-up, an artist called the People's Tenor treated the fans that were streaming into the park to a rendition of the Celtic anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone". But right now, the fans were displaying tifo of figures in Celtic history; Jimmy Johnstone, Brother Walfrid of the Marist Order (who founded the club) and a banner of the European Cup in the Jock Stein stand (the west side of the stadium), including one banner that was modeled on the Irish tricolor with the words "Lisbon '67" in the white portion. There was also a banner that said, "We won it first." Sora and Maggie had no idea what that meant, until Maggie looked at the kits Manchester United were wearing tonight. "They're offended by the shirt," she said.

"Why is that?" Sora asked.

"The shirt Manchester United is wearing has embroidery around the club crest with the words 'May 29th 1968' on the top and '40th Anniversary' on the bottom that commemorates the first time Manchester United won the European Cup," said Maggie. "Obviously, the Celtic supporters haven't taken too kindly to this and are reminding the United supporters that Celtic were the first British team to win the European Cup back in 1967."

"Well, I guess I don't blame them for that," she said.

Then Maggie asked, "Are Tai's friends watching this?"

"Most likely," said Sora. "After all, this is a pretty big game."

9,275 km (or 5,763 miles) away in Tokyo, it was around 3:20 AM, when a knock came on Davis' door. He had gotten to bed early so that he could catch Tai's game on TV and he had invited the rest of the available Japanese DigiDestined to watch the match. Because Kashima wasn't too far from Tokyo, he could go to Tokyo to watch the match there and be back for the next game. He answered the door, and there were Izzy, Joe, Kari, TK (who he was trying not to hate), Cody and Matt. Ken and Yolei were in Chiba, and Mimi was still in the States, so they couldn't be there.

"Hey everybody," he said. "Come on in!" The group poured into Davis' apartment, clamoring as quietly as they could (I know it sounds like a contradiction, but they were whispering) so they wouldn't wake the neighbors.

"What channel is it on?" Cody asked.

"I think it's on Pay-Per-View," said Davis. "I'll try to find it."

"All right!" TK said "I brought some popcorn!"

"And I brought some rice balls!" Joe Kido said.

"So I guess we'll be set," said Matt, who strangely had no hard feelings towards Tai. Of course, Tai was chasing his own profession, so he had to support him.

"I wonder what about Mimi?" Izzy asked, thinking about the missing DigiDestined.

Compared to being around 3:25 at night in Tokyo, in Los Angeles, California, it was close to around 11:25 there. There, on the UCLA campus, Mimi Tachikawa ran as fast as she could to get to her dorm building in time to catch at least kick-off for the game. As she ran, she knocked into people, who were not pleased with her apparent rudeness. But she tried to apologize, anyway. But she managed to make it to her dorm in time to turn on the TV and catch a little bit of ESPN2 programming before it segued into coverage for the UEFA Champions League. "Just in time," she said. "Go Tai!"

"That's good," said Maggie. "I'll bet Scott's little brother will be watching, too."

4,124 miles (6637 km) away in sunny Orlando, Florida, on the campus of the University of Central Florida, 18-year-old Jimmy Michaels, the younger brother of Scott Michaels, ran towards his dorm in Orange Hall. The UCF true freshman quarterback, who looked like a younger version of Scott, except that he had brown eyes instead of blue, was normally adverse to soccer, or as he called it, a "sissy sport". But for his older Bro, he would gladly make an exception. As he entered his dorm, he stopped to take a quick breather while his roommate, Chris Crocker clone Taylor Robinson said, "What's wrong?"

"I need the TV," he said in between breaths.

"No, I have it," Taylor said in his effeminate voice. "Unless you-,"

"Look, my older brother Scott's going to be on TV soon," he said in a more forceful voice. "I need the TV _now._"

"What's he on for?"

"I told you, he's playing soccer in Scotland," he said. "And he's going to be on soon!"

"I thought you hated soccer," said Taylor.

"Usually I do, but I gotta make an exception for my brother, now give me the goddamn remote," he said as he swiped the remote from Taylor's hands to this roommate's protest. However, Taylor's protests went ignored as he switched from Taylor's program to ESPN2 just as the opening animation for the Champions League coverage began.

Back in Glasgow, the crowd energy was building. As was the tradition on match day, the PA system was belting out a version of the song "Let the People Sing", an Irish rebel song that helped reflect the club's roots with Irish immigrants. Because Sora didn't know any Irish songs, she just clapped along. A few fans there were waving Irish tricolors, and in the end zone of the Jock Stein stand, but out of play, a man was waving a massive Irish flag. It was close to kick-off, and Sora and Maggie could tell that these fans were ready. The tifo was displayed with pride, the fans were singing as loud as they could (although some couldn't sing very well), they were definitely ready.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, the clubs were getting ready to go onto the pitch. Manchester United were wearing the "offensive" kit that was solid blue (including the socks) save for the players' number and name on the back as well as the AIG logo, which were all in white. The players' numbers were on the left pant leg, while the club crest was on the left, and "MUFC" was on the back of the collar. Celtic, meanwhile, were wearing their standard kit, but with an alteration. The back, save for two green hoops and one white hoop, was solid white, due to UEFA rules about the numbers visibility. The players' name and number was in the same font as they were on the road uniforms.

Scott and Tai, unlike the last game, were ready for this game, having mentally prepared themselves. Unlike last time, Scott was not awestruck when he saw United's golden boy Cristiano Ronaldo. Just for the hell of it, Scott was wearing a pair of cleats he wore in college that included the colors and logo for the Florida Gators on both cleats. He thought that maybe by representing his alma mater, he'd get some luck. Tai also wore some old cleats that he wore at Kashima Antlers. Despite the fact that he got kicked off the team, he was still proud of those days. And thanks to some meditation, he was now perfectly calm.

Back in the stands, the Celtic PA system began blaring out another song, this one being the club's theme song, if you will, "The Celtic Song", also known as "It's a Grand Old Team" by the club's supporters (A/N: the song is also referred to as "Hail! Hail! The Celts Are Here" thanks to some extended lyrics). This time, Sora sang along to the song, because she knew the lyrics to this song.

"_Sure it's a grand old team to play for,  
Sure it's a grand old team be glad,  
When you read its history,  
It's enough to make your heart go sad,  
God bless them.  
We don't care if we win, lose or draw,  
Darn the hell do we care,  
Because we only know that there's going to be a show,  
And the Glasgow Celtic will be there._

_Sure it's the best darn team in Scotland,  
And the players all are grand,  
We support the Celtic,  
As they are the finest in the land we love them,  
We'll be there to give the Bhoys a cheer  
When the league flag flies  
And it cheers us up when we know the Scottish Cup,  
Is coming home to rest at Paradise."_

As soon as the song began, the Celtic faithful cheered once the opening notes were played and then began singing along once the singing began. Of course, they added their own lyrics, but it was from variations they were more used to. Sora herself got the hang of it relatively easily, since she knew how the song goes. But then the crowd roar got even louder when they looked up at the jumbotrons and saw what they had wanted to see—the players were entering the pitch once the song went to an instrumental break.

On cue, the players for Celtic and Manchster United advanced down the players' tunnel once they were given the signal, which is when the instrumental break in the song began. Scott took a big breath and said to himself, _this is it _and walked down the tunnel and onto the pitch.

Tai also said to himself, _tonight, I'll prove myself for the team_ (A/N: Yes, I know that sucks) and walked out onto the pitch.

As the players walked out onto the pitch, led by the officials and their captains, Stephen McManus for Celtic and Ryan Giggs for Manchester United, they were greated by a deafening roar from the crowd that not only rivaled, but almost surpassed the roar of Old Trafford two weeks prior. The song ended (although some people didn't really notice it end) as the players exited the tunnel and lined up in front of the Main Stand.

In Tokyo, the DigiDestined there were cheering as quietly and loudly as they could at the same time (Probably just indoor voices. In Los Angeles, Mimi was cheering loudly, almost obnoxiously, and in Orlando, Jimmy was clapping for his older brother, while in Glasgow, Sora and Maggie cheered as loudly as they could to match the crowd noise. "Yeah, Tai!" Sora yelled.

"Go get 'em, Scott!" Maggie yelled as well.

And around the world, in living rooms, pubs, dorm rooms and anywhere people were watching, people cheered for the two teams

Then, the UEFA Champions League Anthem began to play increasing the noise of the crowd to almost painful levels.

"_Ils sont les meilleurs  
Sie sind die Besten  
These are the champions  
Die Meister  
Die Besten  
Les Grandes Équipes  
The Champions!"_

During the anthem, Scott smiled, not in giddiness, but in confidence. Tonight, Celtic was going to win, he just knew it. He couldn't prove it, but he just knew it. Tai, meanwhile, was also smiling, also in confidence. He was going to kick some ass tonight, and he was going to make United pay—without playing dirty—for what happened two weeks prior. Finally, the anthem ended and the lucky few who got to flap the UEFA Champions League logo in the middle of the field ran off to the opening strains of "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Gerry and the Pacemakers. Thousands of Celtic fans (save for the United fans who weren't too pleased, since the song was connected to archrivals Liverpool) held their scarves up with both hands above their heads—Sora and Maggie included—and began to sing along.

"_When you walk through a storm hold your head up high  
And don't be afraid of the dark.  
At the end of the storm is a golden sky  
And the sweet, silver song of a lark."_

As the teams posed for a ceremonial photo with the starting XI, the music faded and soon, 60,000 Celtic fans sang,

"_Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain  
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.  
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart  
And you'll never walk alone.  
You'll never walk alone._

_Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart  
And you'll never walk alone, you'll never walk alone."_

The Celtic starting XI, which was set up in a 4-4-2 formation defending the Jock Stein end, looked like this:

1 GK Artur Boruc  
2 DF Andreas Hinkel  
4 DF Stephen McManus  
6 DF Gary Caldwell  
12 DF Mark Wilson  
5 MF Scott Michaels  
14 MF Luke Chapman (Fictional, in case you can't remember)  
13 MF Shaun Maloney  
19 MF Barry Robson  
7 FW Scott McDonald  
16 FW Taichi Kamiya

As the song continued, the players entered the Celtic Huddle, which has become a symbol of the group. Trying to hear each other through the crowd noise, the players gave each other words of encouragement, before the huddle was broken.

On the other side of the field, Manchester United defended the Lisbon Lions (east) end and set up in a 4-3-3 formation that looked like this:

12 GK Ben Foster  
21 DF Rafael  
5 DF Rio Ferdinand  
15 DF Nemanja Vidić  
22 DF John O'Shea  
24 MF Darren Fletcher  
16 MF Michael Carrick  
11 MF Ryan Giggs  
7 FW Cristiano Ronaldo  
32 FW Carlos Tevez  
17 FW Nani

C: Derek Rae: "_So Celtic look to defend their home turf against the best club in Europe, Manchester United, in what looks to be an interesting match. And they hope to do so with their two young first-years, American Scott Michaels, and Japanese Taichi Kamiya."_

Tommy Smyth: "_Look for them to try and get into the open, because that's where they're most dangerous, especially out of the box. And you especially don't want Tai Kamiya to break free._"

Once again, Scott was called on to kick off for Celtic. This time, he tried to make sure that he wasn't too excited. The noise level at Celtic Park was reaching deafening levels.

In the stands, Sora and Maggie cheered loudly.

In Tokyo, the DigiDestined watched with anticipation

In Los Angeles, Mimi was cheering loudly.

In Orlando, Jimmy was applauding but not cheering, while Taylor shook his head.

And in front of TVs everywhere, people did whatever they could.

Finally, the ref blew his whistle and Scott kicked the ball to Luke Chapman, to the cheers of everyone who was there. Luke took the ball into United territory before passing back to Scott Michaels, who then let Shaun Maloney take ball up past Darren Fletcher. Maloney then passed to Scott McDonald who tried to drive up the near side before punting the ball over to the far side of the pitch, with Tai waiting with Carlos Tevez. The two headed the ball toward the United goal, but was headed by Scott Michaels and Ryan Giggs, who was starting in an advanced position beside Carlos Tevez. The ball floated toward the Celtic end of the field, but Luke Gordon headed the ball back into United territory.

Scott Michaels now had possession and was being defended by Michael Carrick. Scott juked to the left, then right to throw Carrick off guard. But he made a mistake when he tried to pass to Barry Robson and the ball was intercepted by Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo passed to Carlos Tevez who took it up the far side trying to get past Gary Caldwell. With no chance of getting past Caldwell though, Tevez passed to Ryan Giggs instead.

Giggs was confronted by Scott Michaels at that moment. Giggs faked right, then left to at first get past Scott, but Scott stayed on Giggs instead and began his pursuit. With no chance of getting past Scott, he passed the ball to Carlos Tevez. Tevez was then tackled by Luke Gordon. The referee blew his whistle and signaled a corner kick because the ball had crossed the goal line after Gordon had tackled Tevez. The referee signaled to the far corner, where Ryan Giggs ran over to take the kick. The two teams prepared themselves for Giggs' kick. When the referee blew his whistle, Giggs kicked the ball into the pitch, where Cristiano Ronaldo was waiting. Ronaldo lined up his shot and fired-but the shot was blocked by Mark Wilson. The clock showed that it was the third minute of the game.

In the ninth minute, United were given another chance at the goal. United were on the attack and Darren Fletcher had possession. Fletcher was driving but was clattered 24 yards out by Barry Robson. The referee again blew his whistle and signaled a free kick to United, drawing groans from the Parkhead faithful. With a good shot at the goal, Cristiano Ronaldo took the shot instead of Fletcher, and the ball sailed right at the goal. The 60,000 Celtic fans in attendance held their breath as the air-filled sphere flew through the air right towards the net...

…But then sailed a few yards over the bar. The Celtic fans let out a sigh while the United faithful groaned in response.

But in the 12th minute, that's when things changed. It began when Luke Chapman robbed Michael Carrick of the ball in the Celtic end and stormed toward the United end. Then he slipped a pass to Scott McDonald who then won a corner. Scott Michaels was given the chance to take the corner kick, which he did. The delivery was cleared and Mark Wilson was given a shot at it, but his drive went over the bar, too. But that was just one shot. A bit later, but still in the same minute, Celtic had possession once again when Rafael took Shaun Maloney out deep on the left wing on the far side of the field. Gordon then took the free kick and sent it into the penalty area were it was headed out by Vidic. But the ball went to Scott Michaels who headed it behind and to his left to Barry Robson who then headed it to Gary Caldwell in the penalty arc and was then headed to Scott McDonald just a few yards from him in the penalty zone. McDonald took the ball on his chest and working from a tight angle at the goal, lobbed it from 14 yards out with the outside of his right foot right over Ben Foster and into the bottom right corner of the net, sending the Celtic Park crowd into a frenzy. Celtic had drawn first blood.

Sky Sports commentary:"_And it's a goal from Scott McDonald and Celtic lead against Manchester United! He steered it past Ben Foster!" _McDonald ran towards the far end of the pitch and then slid on his backside a few yards with his arms up in the air like Touchdown Jesus.

In Tokyo, the celebration was justifiably muted since the neighbors were trying to sleep, but the former DigiDestined were still excited. Sure, Tai hadn't scored, but his team was now in the lead against Manchester United, and that's gotta count for something!

"Alright!" Kari whispered, trying to keep her voice down.

"That wasn't a pretty goal, but you gotta take anything in this situation," said Davis.

"I'll say! Too bad it wasn't Tai though," said Joe.

"Who knows, maybe he'll have another shot," said Izzy.

In Los Angeles, Mimi cheered as well. She didn't know who Scott McDonald was though, but Tai's team was still in the lead.

In Orlando, Jimmy's celebration was more like him making a fist and going "YEAH!" at McDonald's goal.

"Your brother didn't score though," said Taylor.

"You take what you can get," said Jimmy. "My dad always told me that even if Scott doesn't score, I should still be excited for his team."

"Makes sense," said Taylor. It was one of the few times Jimmy and Taylor ever agreed on anything.

Back in Glasgow, Sora and Maggie had been watching the match with growing nervousness. Celtic and United had gotten close at times until now when McDonald scored, causing the Celtic Park faithful to go into a frenzy, including the both of them. As any of the previous three side stories have told you, it doesn't matter who the fuck scores, as long as you have the lead, which is why they were going as nuts as everyone else in the stadium. There was music being played, but neither of them could hear the music because of the loud roar of the crowd. When the crowd began to calm down, that's when the match began again, this time with United kicking off. Although one could not tell it right now, United had been caught off guard by the McDonald goal and their aura of invincibility had disappeared-for now.

After the Scott McDonald goal, the game began to settle down a bit. There were times when Celtic or United came close to scoring, like one moment in the 19th minute when Rio Ferdinand tried to get it off a corner kick, but the ball never got close. A few minutes later, Scott Michaels had a chance to put Celtic ahead another goal. He was within the penalty arc with two United defenders on him, but he managed to spot an opening and fired from 21 yards out, but Foster managed to catch the ball before it could even get into the upper left corner of the net. After that, Celtic mostly stayed on defense. In the 32nd minute, Tai managed to get a hold of the ball and drove into United territory, but was tackled by Nani. However, the referee didn't like what he saw and gave Nani the Yellow Card, much to his dismay

Finally, the whistle blew at the end of the two minutes of added time, signaling the end of the half. In the 45th minute, Celtic gave up two corners, but they managed to head out the second one. The two teams headed to the locker room after an intense first half that saw Celtic hold a 1-0 lead over the best team in the world. The Celtic Park faithful were filled with confidence that their club could beat this team now.

In the locker room, the Celtic players took their time to relax. Strachan also gave them a pep talk, telling them what they were doing wrong, which was letting United get corner kicks, while praising them for their defense, as Artur Boruc had yet to stop any balls coming his way since the Celtic defense was keeping United at bay, unlike the last game, where United managed to score three goals against Celtic. But even then, they knew that they would be tested by the United offense at some point in the match.

When half time ended, the players re-entered the pitch once again serenaded by the Celtic fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone". This time, United kicked off the half, with Berbatov coming in to replace Nani, and attacking the Lisbon Lions (east) stand. The second half started off the same way the first half ended with both teams evenly matched. A little boring, some would say, considering this is a major game. But from the beginning of the half, United began to put pressure on the Celtic defense and managed to get close to scoring.

In the 50th minute, United came close to scoring when John O'Shea kicked a low shot at Artur Boruc, but the Polish 'keeper collected it with ease. In the 52nd minute, United began applying pressure to Celtic's defense. Cristiano Ronaldo had the ball and was being defended by Scott Michaels. Ronaldo tried some of his foot trickery to try and catch Scott off balance, actually succeeding to do so when he faked to the right and then left, catching the American off guard and driving for the goal. But Scott remained in pursuit to try and catch Ronaldo. But Ronaldo passed to Giggs who tried to shoot, but the ball was touched by Gary Caldwell and went out of bounds, where the referee called for a corner kick. Giggs took the corner, but once it got to Vidic, he headed the ball wide, accidentally preventing his team from scoring.

In the 60th minute, however, Celtic broke the pressure when Scott McDonald took the ball up field after Rafael's cross was cleared. But McDonald was prevented from scoring, so he back to passed to Tai instead. Now with possession in the centre circle, Tai was defended by Ronaldo and Tevez who tried to double team him, but Tai used his speed and agility to weave past the both of them and into United territory with Ryan Giggs on him this time. Tai passed to Barry Robson down on the near side and then took it up to the United penalty box. Then he and Gordon teamed up and ended up winning a corner kick for Celtic. Luke Chapman took the corner and kicked it to Tai. Tai tried to head the ball into the net, but the ball narrowly missed the top and went over the goal. Tai mentally kicked himself for ruining that chance to give Celtic a bigger lead.

As the half went on though, United began mounting more pressure on the Celtic defense, making it difficult for them to get out of their own end. In the 67th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo was up against Scott McDonald when the Aussie fouled him. The ref gave Ronaldo the free kick, which he took from 35 yards out, but the shot was blocked. Once again, the Celtic defense had prevailed. But as stated previously, United kept up the pressure on Celtic.

In the 71st minute, Sir Alex Ferguson brought on Wayne Rooney to replace Nani. In that same minute, Scott Michaels went up against Rooney. Scott gave it all he could against the Englishman on the near side. Rooney faked left, then right, while displaying some footwork with the ball going in the opposite direction in which his body was going. Too bad Rooney didn't know that Scott could see things like this coming after playing in the Olympics and seeing _Tai_ of all people try it on him. But Scott crept his foot in between Rooney's legs and nudged the ball out of his legs. The two got tangled trying to gain possession of the ball, with Scott attempting to stiff-arm Rooney with a style he had borrowed from Jimmy. The both of them borrowed techniques from each other all the time. However, Rooney got the ball to Ronaldo who took it up field. Scott tried to pursue, but the fact that he was still tangled up with Rooney made it very difficult for Scott to get to him. But Tai did. Despite the fact that Tai was usually very close to the goal most of the time, he had come to the defensive end to help the defense cover United.

Once again though, united won another corner, which was taken by Giggs. However, the cross was cleared by Stephen McManus. In the 75th minute, Darren O'Dea came on to replace Shaun Maloney. But by now, United were applying full pressure on Celtic. But the fans did their best to try and give Celtic a boost, cheering and singing as loudly as they could, Sora and Maggie included. In Tokyo, the former DigiDestined watched with anxiety. In Los Angeles, Mimi was silently cheering them on, while in Orlando, Jimmy was glued to the TV screen.

In the 80th minute, United came very close to scoring. Andreas Hinkel was defending Wayne Rooney. Rooney, with no shot, passed to Michael Carrick who fired a shot on the goal, but the shot was blocked by Stephen McManus. By now, Celtic was pinned on the 18-yard box. As stated previously, it was only a matter of time before United would score.

In the 85th minute, it happened. After Ben Hutchinson came on to replace Scott McDonald in the 82nd minute, United were given a free kick a few yards outside the penalty zone. Rio Ferdinand gave the ball to Ronaldo who fired a powerful shot right at Boruc, who defected it to the left (Boruc's right)-right to Ryan Giggs. The Welshman came from the left of the net and from almost point-blank range, headed the ball into the net, this time, giving Boruc no chance to defend it as the two collided with each other after it. Save for the few thousand Manchester fans in attendance, the crowd at Celtic Park fell silent. Sora and Maggie watched the scene with shock on their faces and hands on their heads in disbelief at what had just happened.

In Tokyo, the former DigiDestined reacted in various ways; groaning, putting their faces in their hands and even watching on in complete silence.

In L.A., Mimi was not as silent as the others.

In Orlando, Jimmy watched in shock. He though his Bro's team was gonna win! What the hell happened!

In Glasgow, the Celtic players were being yelled at from the sidelines by Strachan, who was understandably furious. They had let United pressure them too much over the past 40 minutes, and they had paid for it. You can't let the best team in the world pressure you for _40 minutes!_ But there was still time left on the clock for Celtic to score again. But for the next 4 minutes, things began to look grim for Celtic. United once again stepped up the pressure on Celtic to try and break them once again. But the thing about sports, is that there is only one thing you can predict: the unpredictable.

In the 89th minute, things were looking grim for Celtic. United was once again applying pressure, trying to get deep into Celtic territory. Tai was on defense, trying to help his team out as best he could. Cristiano Ronaldo had the ball on the mid-far side of the pitch just past midfield when he tried to pass to Wayne Rooney. But instead, the pass went right to Tai. Seizing the opportunity, Tai intercepted the ball.

D.R.: "_Ronaldo's pass is intercepted by Kamiya!"_

Peter Martin: "_It's intercepted by Kamiya!"_

Heroes are made in big games. And Tai knew clearly knew that. With the United defense in pursuit and Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of him, Tai made a break for the United end of the field as fast as he could go without letting the ball get too far from him. At that moment, time seemed to slow down a bit and the crowd's roar suddenly became muffled. _This is it_, he thought; when legends are born. He took the ball up the field towards the United goal. In the stands, Sora was urging him on. In Tokyo, the former DigiDestined were cheering. In L.A., Mimi was enthusiastically cherring,

"Go, Tai, go go go!"

In Orlando, Jimmy was whispering, but still urging him on. Time began to slow down even more. He was now past the centre circle and was getting closer to the United goal. Several United defensemen were in front of him, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs. Tai's stomach was now in his _throat_ he was so excited. All his life, he had dreamed of scoring the winning goal for his side! And now he was going to get the chance.

But there was a problem. From his vantage point, any attempt to score would be futile. Ben Foster had great coverage of the net, and the two defenders in front of him would easily block Tai's shot. He had to give it to someone else. But who to pass to? He looked around to see who was available. Then, he found someone to pass to. It was...

Scott Michaels. Even though Tai still didn't like Scott, the situation called for Tai to pass to someone who had a clear shot. And Scott, who was behind and to the left of him, had a perfect shot at the goal. So, Tai, in slow-motion, scooted the ball to Scott. With Sora, Maggie, the former DigiDestined, Mimi and Jimmy watching, Scott ran towards the goal, judging whether or not he'd have enough timing to get the ball and shoot. From his calculations, he'd have to shoot as soon as Kamiya got the ball to him. The ball slowly made its way to Scott, and it was obvious that United were scrambling to get their defenders ready. Finally, the ball reached Scott; perfect timing. Scott figured that he'd have his right foot to kick the ball with and he knew that in mid-stride, he'd be able to kick into the net. The ball reached him and in mid-stride, Scott fired a shot 3 yards from the penalty arc. Time slowed down even more as the air-filled sphere cut through the air at the United goal. In the stands, the fans held their collective breath, Sora and Maggie included.

In Tokyo, the former DigiDestined could barely watch, with Kari burying her head in her boyfriend T.K.'s shoulder, much to the disdain of Davis.

In L.A., Mimi jumped up and down, as if she knew it was going to go in.

In Orlando, Jimmy got closer to the TV, much to the disdain of Taylor, who told him to get out of the way.

And in pubs, apartments, houses, dorm rooms and TV lounges around the world, Celtic fans, United fans, or anyone who liked football/futol/soccer or were just casual fans watched Scott's shot sail towards the goal.

Now in real life, things ended differently. In real life, there is no Tai Kamiya or Scott Michaels. United and Celtic ended up tied and Celtic ended up bowing out of European play with a loss to Aalborg two weeks later. In an even worse twist, they would lose the SPL title in the final weeks to archrivals Rangers, in what could clearly be considered one of the club's most disappointing seasons ever. United, however, would go on to win the Premier League and lose in the Champions League Final to FC Barcelona. Yes, the real world ending kind of stinks...


	6. Victory and New Understandings

...But this isn't real life.

Picking up where we left off, Scott kicked the ball in the right spot with the right force to send the ball at the goal. The ball floated through the air in what seemed to be slow motion as 60,000 fans in Celtic Park and millions around the globe watched Scott's kick fly. The United defenders tried to block Scott's shot, but the ball flew right past them. The ball seemed to slowly fly towards the goal. It seemed clichéd, but that's exactly how things seemed right now. Tai watched in growing excitement, thinking that it was inevitable that the ball would go into the net.

Scott could only watch his shot fly towards the goal in almost agonized anticipation. Maggie and Sora gripped each other and held their breaths. Kari could barely watch. Mimi strangely _knew-_she didn't think, she _knew_-it would go in. And Jimmy crossed his fingers and held his breath in anticipation. The only thing between the ball and the goal was Ben Foster. And he was too far to his left, since Tai had accidentally drawn him away from the left side of the goal. Foster lunged as hard as he could at the ball to try and stop it. Sixty thousand fans in Celtic Park and millions worldwide watched Scott's shot just miss Foster's hands as the ball flew right.

In.

To.

The.

Net.

And Parkhead erupted.

At that instant, a loud, painful, deafening roar swept through the stands as the ball went into the net that muffled any noise inside the stadium, even the music being played on the PA system.

P.M.: "_He shoots mid-stride... GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL! SCOTT MICHAELS HAS PUT CELTIC BACK ON TOP AGAINST MANCHESTER UNITED! THERE'S PANDEMONIUM HERE IN CELTIC PARK AS THE AMERICAN BHOY SCORES HIS FIRST CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GOAL COMING IN THE 90TH MINUTE AGAINST THE DEFENDING EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS! THE PRESS BOX IS SHAKING IT'S SO CRAZY HERE! SCOTT MICHAELS HAS JUST THRUST A __DAGGER__ INTO THE HEARTS OF MANCHESTER UNITED! IT'S 2-1 FOR CELTIC!"_

D.R.: "_Scott Michaels scores a fantastic goal to but Celtic back in the lead here at Celtic Park! He had a clear shot after Taichi Kamiya had none."_

_Tommy Smyth (A/N: he's Irish): "This is why if you're United, you don't want either Scott Michaels or Taichi Kamiya to get out in the open, you see Michaels had no one around him there and a clear shot on the goal. No question!"_

Once the ball struck the back of the net, Scott snapped back to reality and reacted to his goal in a very exuberant manner. He leapt into the air and punched the air and ran over to the near side. His manner matched those of the Celtic fans who were going berserk in the stands, it was almost as if a riot had broke out. The crazed euphoria of the Celtic fans contrasted with the stunned silence of the United contingent who had started to become somewhat boisterous over the past few minutes. In the stands, Sora and Maggie were feeling the same euphoria that the whole crowd was feeling. And it's not that difficult to do so! The two could barely even hear themselves over the din-hell, they were part of it- but they could read the other's lips and tell what they were saying. Sora was just cheering, while Maggie was bragging that she knew Scott.

In Tokyo, the group couldn't contain themselves and exploded once Scott scored his goal. Kari, who had hid her eyes after Tai intercepted the pass turned to look and saw what had happened. "Did Tai score?" She asked.

"No, he passed to, I think his name is Scott Michaels," said Joe. "By Tai's team is still winning!"

Kari smiled and began to cheer too, since she knew that her brother had come to his senses and forgave Scott. "Yeah, Celtic!" Pretty soon though, they would hear Davis' neighbors knock on the door to get them to shut the hell up.

In L.A., Mimi could barely contain herself and was jumping up and down all over the place. Her dorm mates were perplexed at Mimi's behavior, but she explained to them that she was just celebrating. They still thought she was crazy.

In Orlando, Jimmy was yelling at the top of his lungs, also alarming _his _dorm mates, especially Taylor. "That's my Bro!" He said pointing to the TV screen. "That's my fucking brother, right there!"

"Man, what the hell is wrong with you?" Charles Jones, the heavy-set center for the UCF football team asked.

"My Bro just scored a goal, dude!" he said. "His team's gonna win!" Charles just shook his head at Jimmy as the young quarterback continued to celebrate.

Back at Celtic Park, Scott was soaking up the moment of his goal. But how was he going to celebrate? He was already yelling at the top of his lungs, so what next? Gator Chomp! In other words, perform a gesture synonymous with his alma mater, the University of Florida. So, he fully extended his arms with his right arm on top, and with his palms facing each other, began to clap them like a gator chomping down on its prey. Of course, the Celtic fans didn't know what that was anyway, but they were too caught up in the moment. Soon, Scott was swarmed by Celtic players who were congratulating him on his goal. But then he noticed Tai running towards him. Scott, in an attempt at reconciliation approached him as well. The two gave each other a high five while Scott said, "Nice assist!" Of course, with the noise level pretty much canceling every other thing out, it was pretty much impossible for Tai to hear Scott. But it didn't matter. Celtic had the lead now. That was what was important.

After a while, things began to calm down a little inside the park, and United kicked off to restart the game. But now things were different. After the Giggs equalizer, United had become more confident. But now they were like a blimp with no air. Celtic and their fans, meanwhile, could smell blood. United tried to pressure Celtic again, but really they had no chance. The refs gave 3 minutes added time to the clock. Enough for United to tie the game on a miracle play, sure, but it would practically be impossible for United to score now. In the 92nd minute, they came pretty damn close to tying the game. Wayne Rooney was driving against Scott Michaels, who had to put the goal behind him. Scott was covering Rooney like white on rice, making it impossible for Rooney to get past. The seconds were ticking by. It was the last minute of the game. Seizing an opportunity, Rooney passed to Cristiano Ronaldo, who then passed it to Dimitar Berbatov. Berbatov fired his shot at close range. Once again, things slowed down as the ball traveled through the air. Scott began to panic, fearing his goal was for naught. The ball sailed through the air right at the net and...

Missed.

The Celtic Park faithful let out a sigh of relief and a cheer at Berbatov's miss. Some began taunting him. But it was the last shot of the game. Finally, the ref blew his whistle, and the roar returned, this time even louder.

Celtic were victorious.

P.M.: "_Celtic pull off the upset against the reigning European Champions thanks to a late goal from Scott Michaels!"_

D.R.: "_A great performance by Celtic, who hang on to win against Manchester United and break United's unbeaten streak in Europe. Celtic now gain 3 points, while United must win next week at Villarreal."_

As soon as the whistle blew and the crowd roared, Tai raised his arms up in the air like the Rocky Balboa statue in Philly as a wave of euphoria splashed over him and he felt the need to go "YYYEEESSS!" Sounds cheesy, I know. The sounds of "You'll Never Walk Alone" once again filled the air of Celtic Park. But he felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to his left but the person was to his right. it was Wayne Rooney.

"Good game tonight," he said.

"No problem," said Tai. A few of the United players also congratulated Tai. They knew they were beat. So, they were good sports about it.

Scott, meanwhile, was even more euphoric, especially over the previous night, when he stayed up to watch Barack Obama get elected President. This just put the icing on the cake for him. Now where the hell was Kamiya? He needed to thank him for that assist. There he was, over near the centre circle.

Tai felt a tap on his shoulder again and looked behind him. it was Scott Michaels. But this time, he wasn't being hostile. He had his hand out as if he wanted Tai to take it, which he did. Then Scott pulled Tai into a "man hug" [1], with only one arm around Tai's shoulder. Of course, it ended quickly, only a second. "Thanks for that assist," said Scott after breaking the "pound hug". "If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have won this game."

"No problem," said Tai. Scott left for the locker room and would soak up the crowd's cheers on the way there. Tai simply shook his head and followed the team back to the dressing room.

Back in the dressing room, Tai shook his head as the other players congratulated Scott on his goal. _He might as well have the spotlight to himself for once_, Tai thought. Sure, he was a little jealous that he wasn't getting some recognition, but the struggles of the team are put above the struggles of the one. But then-

"Hey, I can't have all the glory," said Scott. Tai's head jerked up when he heard this. "I gotta give half the credit to Tai Kamiya." This was new. "If it wasn't for his steal and assist, we probably would not have won this game. So give some credit to Kamiya, he deserves it!" A feeling of confusion permeated Tai's thoughts even as the other Celtic players honored him after Scott suggested they do so. Why had Scott done that?

"What was that about?" He asked after they were done. But to his surprise, Scott walked over to him and extended his hand out to Tai. The Japanese forward looked at the American midfielder with a confused look on his face, wondering why he seemed to be in _such_ a good mood-and that wasn't sarcasm-beside the fact they just beat Manchester United.

"I'm sorry for all the shit that's been going on between us," he said. That was new! "Although I will not apologize for that goal in the Olympics." It figures. "I did what I had to do to help my team out and I have no regrets about it whatsoever. But I will apologize for giving you that black eye. I would appreciate an apology for that fat lip, though. But we're on the same team now and we need to get this feud behind us."

Tai looked at Scott in confusion, not knowing what the hell to do. "I'd accept his offer and apology," said a voice. It was Gary Caldwell. "This feud between the both of ye has gone on long enough. And he's right; he's not going to apologize for that goal against yer team. But I'd still accept it."

It took him a while, but Tai eventually extended his hand to shake Scott's. "Apology accepted," he said. Kari was right; he should have dropped that grudge a long time ago. "And I'm sorry for that fat lip I gave you." Scott smiled and said,

"No problem."

"So why are you in such a good mood?" Tai asked, "Besides the fact that we beat _Manchester United!_" The feeling for Tai had not sunk in yet that they had just beat Manchester United, the best club in the world. The two were in their street clothes now and were just leaving the dressing room.

"I am in such a good mood," he said, "Because BARACK OBAMA was elected President of the United States last night!"

"Really?" Tai asked.

"Yep," Scott replied.

"So you're an Obama supporter."

"Not just that, I voted for him via absentee ballot. I stayed up most of the night watching the election coverage with a bunch of fellow Obama supporters last night."

"Most of the night?" Tai asked. How could he have been up most of the night and be play the way he did tonight?

"Yeah, so? Hell, I watched it with DeMarcus Beasley. He was at the party, too."

"DeMarcus Beasley?" Tai asked. "Isn't he with Rangers?"

"Yeah, but he's an Obama supporter, so we've got something in common," said Scott. Tai still couldn't help but think of the headlines if a Celtic player and a Rangers player were photographed together on good terms. Hell, not even a Celtic and Rangers fan could be photographed together on good terms! Wait, they weren't in the same picture, were they? "Well, he's also on the US National team and we've played together on that team, so there's really no bad blood between us." Oh. That makes sense.

"So aren't you kind of lonely being the only American on this team?"

"Well, I probably won't be a lonely for very long," Scott said. "There's a 'keeper from Oklahoma named Dominic Cervi who's trying to sign with us. He's pretty good, I've played against him when I was in college playing for Florida and he was playing for Tulsa. I shot on him three times and he stopped all three shots."

"Do you think he'll sign with us?" Tai asked.

"He's waiting on his Italian passport, so hopefully he will. By the way, there are already Japanese players here, yet you don't seem to talk to them a lot."

"Well, I would like for one guy to come here," said Tai. "His name's Davis and he plays for my old team, Kashima Antlers at midfield."

"Davis? I'm not sure who he is, that doesn't sound Japanese."

"I've known him for a while, though. His name's actually Daisuke Motomiya, and I think you might remember him." Scott stopped, and began to think.

"Motomiya... Motomiya... oooooooohhhhhh, now I remember! He played in the Bronze Medal game, didn't he? Isn't he the guy with the spiked, maroon-colored hair?"

"Yeah, he did," said Tai. "I've known him since we were kids and the strange thing is, he's a lot like me." Scott laughed in response.

"HA!" So their current location was in the main lobby of the stadium structure. Outside was a crowd of fans waiting for autographs. Why weren't they waiting near the players' parking lot? Oh, well. Tai and Scott didn't even park in the player's lot! You got an extra pen on you?" Scott asked, gesturing to Tai.

"Yeah, why? Are you gonna use it to sign those autographs?"

"Yep." It took them a while to sign the autographs for the fans. Some of them had left, and those people had gotten autographs from the more famous players like Scott McDonald, Artur Boruc and Gary Caldwell. But there was still a crowd for the two heroes of the night's match. Most of them wanted autographs on the usual things, like autograph books, soccer balls, game programs, ticket stubs, etc. But one young lady also wanted Scott to sign her... chest. He was a little uncomfortable about it, but he signed it anyway.

It took maybe fifteen minutes, but they were soon done and were heading to their cars when they heard a pair of voices from behind.

"Scott!"

"Tai!" The two looked behind them and noticed Sora and Maggie coming right for them. Maggie ran up to Scott and glomped the poor bastard, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Maggie! Easy, easy, easy!" Scott said rapid fire as she spun him around. Sora simply hugged Tai, no glomping (A/N: I never thought I'd live to see the day when I used the word 'glomp' in my work!), just a straightforward hug. Tai blushed as red as a ripe tomato.

"Scott, ya magnificent bastard!" Maggie said after she let him go. "That was goal was the berries!"

"Gee thanks," said Scott with a blush on his face. "Wait, what does 'the berries' mean?"

"It means that was fuckin' excellent, ya nugget!" She said. "And fer that goal, I think I'll sneck ya."

"What's a sn-" Scott didn't even get a chance to finish his sentence, because Maggie gave him a kiss on his right cheek, leaving the lucky bastard in a state of slight post-kiss catatonia.

"Guess that means he's figured out what 'sneck' means," said Sora.

"And it looks like he enjoyed it, too," said Tai. "Oh wait, who's that?" He said, referring to Maggie.

"Oh, her?" Sora asked. "Oh, she's Maggie Gordon, she's a friend of mine now, or as she says, a 'troop', right?"

"Yur close," said Maggle. "But no' close enough."

"And who's she?" Scott asked, pointing to Sora.

"Oh, she's Sora Takenouchi," said Maggie. "Well, now that we're aw introduced, I say we ge' some scran?" They looked at her with confused looks on their faces. "Food!"

"Ohm I got it," said Scott. "Fine with me, I need some grub in me, preferably a brat!" He turned to Tai. "Did you eat yet?"

"Actually, I wouldn't mind some food either, I'm starving!" Tai said as well. "What about you, Sora?"

"That sounds great to me!" She replied. "But do you think we'll be able to find something open this late?"

"I be' I ken find some places that are open," said Maggie. "It's not tae hard, especially in the City Centre."

Who would have thought there was a restaurant in Glasgow that served Chicago food? Neither did Scott, Maggie, Tai or Sora until they found a place in the City Centre called "Swerski's". It was everything an overseas Chicagoan would want. Pictures of the Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, White Sox, anti-Cubs (A/N: The author is a White Sox fan) and other paraphernalia, including Obama pictures, shots of the skyline, and photos of great Chicagoans. Naturally, being a transplanted Chicagoan, Scott loved the place instantly. Maggie, Tai and Sora were surprised at the place, but they agreed to eat there anyway, since they were hungry anyway.

So they were eating their late dinner when Sora prodded Tai to ask Scott a question. "So Scott," he said. Scott looked up from taking a bite out of his Italian beef (sandwich) and looked at Tai from underneath the bill of his University of Florida baseball cap. "Um..." Tai was two embarrassed to ask the question he was originally going to ask, so he instead said, "What was that um..." he tried to mimic Scott's gesture. "That thing you did after you scored your goal?" Scott looked at him for a few seconds.

"Ooooohhhh, now I know what you're talking about," he said. Scott then performed the gesture again and said, "Gator Chomp!"

"Gator Chomp?" Sora asled. "What's that?"

"It's something they do at the University of Florida," said Scott. "It's a nationally recognized gesture; In the States, of course."

"So why'd you do it?"

"Because I wanted to!" He replied. Good explanation. "Like I said, it's a source of pride for me, I wanted to do something special for when I scored my first Champions League goal, so I did something any Gator would; I did the Gator Chomp!"

"So ye played football in college, did ya?" Maggie asked. Scott looked at her strangely, as though she said something wrong.

"I didn't play football in college, I played soccer," said Scott. "Tim Tebow plays football!"

"Wait, what-" said Maggie, before she was cut off by Scott again.

"In the States, when someone talks about football, they don't mean the sport Tai and I play, they're talking about what is internationally called American football. In the States, we call it 'soccer'."

"Well that's a stupid name!" Maggie said. "Why soccer, what does that mean?"

"It's short for 'association football," said Scott. "We already have a football. And if you insult that sport, I'll have to call my little brother Jimmy and tell him about you."

"Why?" Tai asked. He wasn't trying to push Scott's buttons, he was legitimately curious.

"Because he plays that sport!" Scott retorted. "And he really doesn't like it when people insult his sport. So I suggest you stop right there, Maggie." Maggie didn't want to get Scott's little brother involved, so she just playfully stopped.

But Tai still wanted to ask his question. Luckily for him, he would answer it. Just not in the way he expected, because Scott asked, "So Kamiya, why'd you come to play for Celtic?" Tai looked at Scott with a look of shock on his face why was-oh wait, Tai wanted to ask Scott that question.

"Because I wanted too," he said. But Scott wanted more of an answer, so Tai said, "Because I was kicked off my old team."

Scott's face showed a look of surprise at what he heard. "You got kicked off?" He asked. "Why?"

"Because my dog," he didn't want to say 'Agumon', because the existence of Digimon was still a secret. "My dog trashed the locker room."

"That's not so bad," said Scott.

"But I got the blame for that," he said. "But I was also in trouble because I kept getting into fights with other players."

"That's Tai for you," said Sora. "He's had a brash streak since we were little kids. He'd rush into a situation without thinking a lot."

"As I was saying, and the proverbial third strike was when I when I got arrested."

"_Arrested?" _Scott and Maggie asked in unison.

"It was a misdemeanor!" He said. "It was a minor traffic violation."

"Wait, traffic violation?" Scott asked. "I got those a lot, but I never got arrested, I just got tickets!"

"Well the officer claimed I assaulted him," said Tai. "But really all I did was disagree with him."

"Well, what happened," said Maggie. "Were ye acquitted?"

"Yeah, I was," said Tai. "But the team didn't care and threw me off. Luckily, the JFA were more lenient and let me play on the Olympic team. I guess I was lucky, considering the string of bad luck that was giving me headaches. And then the Bronze Medal game happened."

"Okay, so that's your back story," said Scott. "What about your reason?"

"My reason for coming to Celtic was because they had the best offer," he said.

"Makes sense," said Scott. "What else?"

"They were the only high-profile team that offered me a chance to play," he said. "It's not because of the arrest, it's because no other top clubs thought I was good enough; but enough about me, what about you?" He said to Scott.

"My reason?" He said. "Is a lot less complicated then yours."

"Well, what is it?"

"Well, the thing is, after I got out of college, I tried to sign with an MLS club."

"Yeah, and?" Tai asked, impatiently.

"Let me finish," said Scott. "The problem is I couldn't get signed. The MLS season was already well underway and I couldn't find a club who wanted me."

"That hurts," said Maggie.

"Of course, there was also the fact that I was playing on the Olympic team."

"I guess that's a good reason," said Sora. "When did you join the Olympic team?"

But Scott gave a look that showed he might have been hiding something. "To tell the truth, I wasn't even supposed to be on the Olympic team," he said.

"_You weren't?_" They all said in immense surprise.

"Yeah, I was only a late addition because one of the players got injured and he had to have surgery. They called me up as a replacement only two weeks after I graduated. I got lucky!"

"But why weren't you on the Olympic team?" Sora asked. Tai wasn't asking anything, what with the revelation that his (former) rival was going to be sitting out the Olympics. "Were you not good enough?"

"I was good enough," said Scott. "The problem was, I couldn't make most of the training sessions for the team because of my commitment to college."

"So it wasn't because ye weren't good," said Maggie. "It was because of scheduling conflicts."

"Exactly," he said. "Of course, we all know how things turned out." Too bad Tai was listening.

"So why exactly did ye sign for Celtic?" Maggie asked.

"Well, like Kamiya said, they had the best offer," he said. "And that bit about some guy complaining about the lack of Americans on the team? it wasn't even a factor."

"Any other reason?" Sora asked.

"Again like Kamiya, they were the only high profile club that wanted me," said Scott. "No MLS team wanted me."

"Well Tai," said Sora. "It seems you two have something in common."

"With the exception of the problems with the law," said Scott. "I've never been arrested."

"Good for you," said Tai with a grudging tone of voice.

"Listen Kamiya," said Scott. "You really need to let that thing go. I did what I had to do for my team. If you were in my situation, you would do the same. And I have no regrets about that goal."

Tai looked at Scott. The two started at each other for what seemed like hours before Tai smiled and said, "All right. I guess you've got a point." Sora smiled for Tai. She was glad he was finally putting his grudge behind him.

"Of course, if our teams play each other again, don't expect me to hold back, got it?" Scott said. "If I have to do it again, I will."

"And so will I," said Tai. "I won't hold back either, you can bet on it." Scott and Tai smiled and began to laugh. The girls joined in, as well. Maybe they were finally going to be friends.

After the four of them finished eating, they decided to take a late-night walk in the Glasgow City Centre. The primarily Victorian architecture of the city, combined with the seamless blending of modern buildings amazed Scott, Tai and Sora; Scott because he was used to the mostly twisted steel jungle of the Chicago Loop, and Tai and Sora because they were used to the neon, steel, ancient, classic Japanese and what-the-hell-is-that of Tokyo. While walking around, they got a few people who noticed them, because they were still wearing their Celtic warm-up jackets. Some of them were friendly, some, not-so-friendly, mostly in the form of one-fingered salutes and some colorful (and possibly illegal) words. Must have been Rangers fans. A few people wanted to have their pictures taken with them, like this exchange:

While on Buchanan Street, a trio of college-age girls, maybe around the age of 18-20, noticed Scott and Tai walking past them. "Oh my god!" Scott, Tai, Maggie and Sora turned around. "Yer're Scott Michaels and Tai Kamiya, right?"

"Uh, yeah," said Scott. "So?"

"Ye scored that goal against United!" She said. "Can we tak' a picture wit ye?" Tai looked at Sora, then Scott. Then he said,

"Sure." The reason for the hesitation was that neither of them had been hit by a seductive yet powerful force: Celebrity. So the fact that people were asking them to take their pictures with them sort of surprised the both of them. Of course, being in Scotland, there's a good chance it won't get to David Beckham levels of celebrity. And believe it or not, in this case, that's a good thing. Okay, so dealing with celebrity might not be a factor. Right now, that is.

"So Scott, Tai," said a red-haired girl. "Do ye have a girlfriend?"

"Uuuuhhhh, no," said Tai.

"Why do you ask that?" Scott asked. The three girls then smiled at each other in a way that made the group uneasy. Then, two of the three girls kissed Scott and Tai, the dark-haired girl kissing Tai, and and the red head kissing Scott to the embarrassment of both of them while the blonde girl took the picture. But the real kicker was the reaction of Sora and Maggie. Talk about 'if looks could kill'! Too bad for Sora and Maggie they didn't kill. But Scott and Tai had looks of outright embarrassment, and heads that looked like tomatoes. Actually, more like red light bulbs. But, the girls still had one way of dealing with these ladies. They grabbed the two of them by the collar and tore them off Scott and Tai just as the picture could be taken. That'd be a hell of a Facebook picture. The girls were going to yell at Sora and Maggie, but their complaints were silenced by the terrifying looks on Sora and Maggie's faces. To put it shortly, they ran away; far away. But Scott and Tai were confused as to why Sora and Maggie acted like that. But then the girls gave them the same look, which frightened the both of them.

"Jeez Sora," said Tai. "It was just an innocent kiss... right?"

"I don't think you should bring that up again," Scott muttered into Tai's ear. "That might-I mean, will-get them mad. Of course, I don't know why she reacted that way," he said, referring to Sora.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Tai asked, loud enough for Sora to hear.

"Sora, she's your girlfriend, right?" An awkward silence suddenly filled the air. Sora and Tai didn't look at each other, and it was apparent they were blushing even redder than a stop light (A/N: Bad metaphor, I know). "Well?"

"Um..." Sora had to look for something to distract Scott from the subject. Luckily, she didn't have to look too far. "Maggie, who is that a statue of?" She said, pointing to a statue a bit north of them right in front of the Buchanan Galleries and Glasgow Royal concert hall.

"Oh, him?" She said. "That's Donald Dewar. The first First Minister o' Scotland." Sora was saved by the statue. Maggie then went on to explain a few things about Dewar, effectively killing the conversation. About the status of Tai and Sora's relationship, that is. But Scott was still persistent.

"So is she your girlfriend or not?" He asked.

"No, she's not," said Tai. Too bad Tai's too damn dense (partially because of his 6-year-denial of his feelings for her) to wonder why the hell she's even here. "But..." He said. Scott stopped just as he was passing him.

"But what?" Scott said.

"It's nothing," said Tai. But the look on Tai's face showed something was the matter.

"But-"

"I said it's nothing!" Tai shouted, enough for Sora and Maggie to hear. But Scott got the message. It was obvious that Tai had no intention of talking about the subject.

"Forget it, then," said Scott. But Tai's reaction to Scott's question inadvertently told Scott that something was up. But Tai wasn't talking, so that conversation was going nowhere.

At the same time, Maggie was trying to ask Sora the same question, but Sora wouldn't talk about it at all, instead preferring to talk about a different subject. Too bad it just made Maggie even more suspicious. "I think there's something going on here," said Maggie. "Sora won't talk."

"Neither will Kamiya," said Scott. "I have no idea what the hell is up with them, but they seem to be acting like a divorced couple or something like that."

"YE FENIAN BASTARDS!" A voice came from a good distance away. The conversation of Tai and Sora's relationship ended right then and there and they turned to see a group of what seemed to be Rangers fans jeering them.

"What the hell do you want?" Scott asked.

"I jest want tae say," he said with a drunken slur. It was obvious that these guys had been drinking. What they didn't notice was Maggie facepalming. "That yer're a bunch of Fenian cunts!"

"Hey hey hey, easy buddy!" Scott said. "There's no room for that kind of language here! So why don't you just mosey along, huh?" He turned to the other sand said, "Come on, let's get out of here." But the drunken Rangers fans weren't done.

"Hey yer're than Yank fer Celtic aren't ye?" One of them said.

"Can we go?" Maggie asked. "They're clearly morons."

"Ye American bastard!" He said.

"What did you say?" Said Scott, clearly offended by the man's words.

"Ye heard me!"

"You do know that it makes you look like a dumbass, right?" Scott asked. The Rangers fans looked confused. "You got two Americans on your team, morons! And I know them! I've played with them before, and believe me, if they heard their own fan base was mocking Americans, they'd split instantly!" The Rangers fans went silent. Can you say, 'owned?' (A/N: Although the author hates rangers, these fans in no way represent all Rangers F.C. fans. They're just drunken morons) But the drunkards weren't done spouting their shite.

"Ye there!" One said to Tai.

"What?"

"Ye'd better naet eat me dog!" He said.

"I don't eat dogs," said Tai.

"They're definitely making Rangers fans look bad," said Maggie.

"Yer're a piece o' shite, Kamiya!" He said. Tai was about to go confront them, but some else did-Sora. She walked right up to the drunk Rangers fans and said,

"Don't you dare say that to my friend, got that?" The Rangers fans were taken aback, but they kept on.

"Well what are ye going t-t-tae do (hic), lashie?" He said. "Are ye goin-" His words were cut off right then and there. littel did he know that Sora used to play soccer herself, so he was surprised when she gave him a powerful kick in the-

"Oh, nuts!" Scott said as he watched. "That must have hurt!" The Rangers fan fell to the ground in agony as Sora walked away unflinchingly back to the group.

"Damn girl," said Maggie. "I didn't know ya had it in ye."

"I really didn't want to resort to violence, though," said Sora. "But in this case it had to be done. Shall we go now?"

"Sure, let's go." Scott said. The group left the scene, leaving the Rangers fans licking their proverbial wounds. But the group of Scott, Tai, Maggie and Sora was now beginning to be bound in a new way. Scott and Tai, who had been antagonists for some time, were now becoming friends. And of course, Celtic, although they were not out of the woods yet, had send a message to the football/soccer world that they were serious by beating the best team in the world, Manchester United. And Tai Kamiya and Scott Michaels hoped that they were on the path to become among those who were revered as Celtic legends.

When Tai and Sora got back to their apartment, they were greeted by an enthusiastic Koromon. "Tai, that was great!" The In-Training Digimon said.

"But I didn't score," said Tai.

"It doesn't matter," said Koromon. "You always put yourself on the line for the team before."

"I guess you're right," said Tai. "But just you see, in the next game, I'll definitely score, just watch me!" Sora shook her head; same old, hot-blooded Tai. But she hoped that side of him never changed.

End chapter.

[1] Look it up on Urban Dictionary. Or as Wikipedia calls it, a "Pound hug" http:(two slashes)en(dot)wikipedia(dot)org(slash)wiki(slash)Pound_hug

All right, so how did you like that chapter? Again, although it's uncharacteristic of a Celtic fan, I'd like to apologize to Rangers fans for those dumbass fans. But I will also like to say that your team got lucky this year. And I'd also like to apologize to Man U fans; although I didn't portray them as bastards, just opponents.

So apologies aside, I hope you liked this chapter. And I'll have more on the way soon. And reviews would be very much appreciated.

Mon the Hoops!


	7. Survival and Trip to Edinburgh

As stated in the previous chapter, Celtic were not out of the woods yet. A loss to Aalborg and Villarreal would effectively end their European dreams. Three weeks after beating Manchester United, on November 25, Celtic were playing Aalborg BK in Aalborg, Denmark while United played at Villarreal. In the meantime, Celtic had managed four more wins in SPL play against Motherwell, Kilmarnock, Hamilton and St. Mirren, respectively. Now they were fighting for their European dreams once again. We join the action relatively late in the game. Celtic were wearing their yellow tops and socks and green shorts, while Aalborg were wearing their home kits with the shirt having alternation red-and-white vertical stripes on the chest with the collar and sleeves solid red. Their shorts and socks were white with the club crest on the shin. Much like the United game, manager Gordon Strachan had put Scott and Tai in the starting line up. Celtic had struck first in the 53rd minute on a goal by Barry Robson. Aalborg had equalized in the 73rd minute on a goal from Brazilian midfielder Caca. But that wasn't even the worst part. We will join the action right after an Aalborg shot deflected off Celtic captain Gary Caldwell and into the Celtic net. It seemed luck had turned against Celtic.

Too bad Taichi Kamiya isn't one to quit. Actually, that's a good thing in this case. After letting Scott Michaels get the glory last time, this time, it was Tai's turn. As anyone knows, Tai literally does not even know the meaning of the word 'quit'. He knows what it means; he just doesn't give a shit. But anyway, after the own goal, Celtic were looking grim. But Tai, despite being a first-year, tried to rally his teammates. "Are you just giving up?" He said to them. "We've still got enough time to win this thing! We just have to-oh, come on!" Too bad they weren't listening to him. Tai may have changed since he was 11, as he had calmed down and was less rash, but he was still a determined and hot-blooded individual. In fact, you could say his determination got bigger tonight. With Celtic down 2-1, it would take a practical miracle for Celtic to win. And that's when Tai stepped up to the plate.

It began with Aalborg on the attack in the 89th minute. The Aalborg fans had begun to smell blood and were cheering their team on. Aalborg midfielder Andreas Johansson had the ball just midfield. He tried to pass to Thomas Enevoldsen, but Tai, who was playing on defense again, saw an opportunity and intercepted the ball just like he did against United. With Celtic on attack, he passed to Scott (Michaels) on the far side of the pitch in terms of width. Scott drove past defender Kasper Bogelund and then passed to Nakamura in the penalty box. Nakamura then tried to pass to Barry Robson just outside the penalty box. Robson received the ball, but he got tangled up with Michael Jakobson. Jakbson stripped the ball from Robson but the ball went out of bounds near the dugout. Scott took the throw-in and threw to Gary Caldwell, just five yards away from him. Caldwell passed to Scott McDonald. The clock showed that it was the 90th minute now. Celtic were running out of time. McDonald tried to get the pass off to Scott Michaels but the pass was blocked by Johansson. But the ball went free in the penalty area. Johansson tried to pursue the ball, but he was beaten to the punch-by Tai. Tai came sprinting in as fast as he could to stop Johansson from getting anywhere near the ball. With a swift kick of his right leg, Tai fired a shot from 14 yards out towards the goal. Moroccan 'keeper Karim Zaza tried to block, but his timing was way off, and the ball sailed past him into the net.

C: "_GOAL! Tai Kamiya equalizes for Celtic in the 90th minute!" _Tai reacted to his goal by jumping up in the air and then mimicking Tiger Woods when he first won the Masters. The other Celtic players then mobbed Tai after his celebration. Now with the game tied, Celtic could easily escape Aalborg with a tie and then possibly advance to the Knockout Stages of the Champions League, if not the UEFA Cup. But Tai wasn't done. Not in the least. After Aalborg kicked off, it was about another 30 seconds before an errant pass came Tai's way. Seizing the opportunity, Tai charged the ball and got his foot-literally-on it. Using his speed and agility, Tai wove in and out of the Aalborg defenders towards the goal. But this speed and agility wasn't something he picked up overnight. As previously mentioned, after he let Sora go to Matt, he began working on his soccer game even harder, as though he were Rocky Balboa. One of the things he did was work on his speed and agility. But regular Earth training programs weren't enough for that. So, every weekend he had off, he'd go into the Digital World. There, he would purposely provoke fast Digimon and try to out run them or weave past them, much to the chagrin of Agumon, who had to bail him out on more than one occasion. Of course, the agility also came from having to dodge rocks being thrown at him. Within two years, Tai was outrunning many Digimon, which left Agumon feeling strangely left out.

So with the Digi-training, Tai had some impressive speed and agility, which he was using right now. The Aalborg defenders tried in vain to stop Tai, while the Celtic players watched in amazement. The Aalborg players were simply left behind staring at Tai like deer a deer in a headlight. Soon, Tai was right in front of the goal in the penalty zone and about to take a shot on goal, when he was tripped up by Aalborg defense man Michael Jakobson. It was a good tackle, but the ref did not like what he saw and called a penalty on Jakobson, much to the Dane's dismay. But when he tried to argue, the ref gave him a yellow card. Tai was given a penalty kick.

Tai took a deep breath. The ball was on the penalty spot, awaiting his kick. It was strangely nerve-wracking, which seemed to bug him. But he was determined to make this shot. He began his approach to the goal slowly, trying to throw Zaza off. Then a quarter of the way to the ball, he rushed towards the ball and fired a shot at the goal. Needless to say, it went in.

C: "_He SCORES! Tai Kamiya scores on the penalty. He's now scored two goals in two minutes! What a performance for the Japanese newcomer!_" Tai dropped to his knees instantly and screamed in a celebratory manner while his Celtic teammates ran over to him. The Energi Nord Arena crowd, which had become noisy after the own goal by Caldwell, was stunned into silence, while the Celtic contingent that followed the club to Denmark was going bananas. Tai got up off his knees to see Scott Michaels coming for him first. Scott and Tai then jumped in the air and bumped their sides together (A/N: It's something that I see a lot at American football games. Scott's seen these, so he tends to do them). After letting Scott have the glory against United, now it was Tai's turn to get the glory. As the other Celtic players congratulated Tai, he let himself enjoy the moment of his first real triumph in European football. The crazy thing is, although Scott had the glory last week, Tai already had more goals in Champions League play than he did. Finally, a few minutes later, the referee blew his whistle, signifying the end of the match. The final score: Celtic 3, Aalborg 2.

With the win, Celtic gained a crucial 3 points in Group E of the Champions League Group stage. Meanwhile, United beat Villarreal at El Madrigal. The group E standings would look like this:United in first place with 10 points, Villarreal in second with 8, Celtic in third with 7 points, and Aalborg in dead last with 1. Even with this crucial win, Celtic was still not out of the woods yet. Although they would still be playing European competition in 2009, they would need to beat Villarreal at Celtic Park on December 10 to advance to the Knockout Stage of the Champions League.

But at the moment, that was not on the players' minds. Instead, they were basking in the victory, their first road win in the Champions League since 2003.

"Two goals in two minutes!" Australian Scott McDonald said. "I never thought they would come from you, Kamiya."

Tai simply shrugged and said, "I guess I'm full of surprises!"

"Like that speed," said Artur Boruc. "How did you get so fast?"

Tai closed his left eye and held his finger up to his lips and said, "It's a secret."

"Hope it wasn't 'roids," said Scott Michaels, jokingly.

"No, more like Rocky training," said Tai.

"Running up a mountain in Siberia made you that fast?" Scott asked. "I don't believe it."

But without missing a beat, Tai replied, "More like Mount Fuji." The whole locker room burst in to laughter, but Scott only chuckled.

"So what the hell was that all about," he said whilst removing his cleats. "Scoring twice in two frickin' minutes!"

"Because there was no way I was going to let the team lose," said Tai.

"Oh really?" Scott asked in an amused tone.

"I just don't want the team to lose," said Tai. "I'll do whatever I can for the team, even if I can't score."

"Well that explains what happened against Man U," said Scott. "I was sure you were going to take that shot."

"Well, I wasn't," said Tai. He didn't even have a shot anyway.

"Hey Michaels!" Scott McDonald said.

"What?"

"Is that an Obama shirt?" He said pointing to Scott's shirt, which had the Obama 'O' on the front above the text "Obama/Biden".

"Yeah, so?" Scott Michaels said. "Why are you asking this right now and not talking to Kamiya?"

"I'm just curious," said McDonald.

"Alright, I'll answer a few questions before we started bugging Kamiya again." Scott said.

"Hey!"

"Yes, this is an Obama shirt," he said. "And before you ask the other question, yes, I am an Obama supporter and I voted for him, but Kamiya already knows this."

"It's true," said Tai.

"Anything else?" Scott asked.

"No," said McDonald. "I was just asking."

"Good, now let's get back to bugging Kamiya," said Scott. "So 2 goals in 2 minutes, the only time anything close to that happened was with United back in 1999, and that had two different people! Of course, that's the most recent time that I can remember-oh wait, UC Santa Barbara did that once, I think I saw the video on YouTube or something."

"So we know 2 goals in two minutes has happened," said Tai. "Are you sure that's the only example?"

"I'm not sure about 2 goals by the same person," said Scott. "But 2 goals by the same team probably isn't to far-fetched. So what possessed you to score two goals in two minutes?"

"Are you saying that's a bad thing?" Tai asked. Although they were starting to warm up to each other, Scott and Tai still had some antagonism going on between each other.

"No, and I don't understand why you're getting mad about that," replied Scott. "I was just asking."

"Okay then," said Tai. "Since you asked-hey wait, I already answered this!"

"You didn't give a good enough answer," said Scott.

"I already said, I wasn't going to let the team lose," said Tai. "I really didn't intend to score twice, but the guy tackled me before I could take the shot.

"Oh that's right, the second one was a penalty kick," said Gary Caldwell.

"Right, and I wasn't going to miss that one, either," said Tai. "I couldn't stand us losing, so I was going to make that shot no matter what!"

Scott stifled a laugh and said, "You remind me of my little brother Jimmy."

"How is that?" Tai asked. Scott closed one eyelid, held his pointer finger up and said,

"I'll tell you some other time."

"Why not now?"

"Because I don't to do it right now, that's why," said Scott.

"Now's a great time," Tai muttered to himself. Scott didn't listen, and got dressed while humming a song that got one of the players curious. Apparently he had never heard the song before and he wanted to know what the song was.

"What song is that?" Luke Chapman asked.

"What song?" Scott asked. "You just ask the most random questions"

"The song you were just humming," said Chapman. "I think it went like this," he tried to hum the song as best he could, while Scott listened. At first, Scott was confused about the song, but then his face showed that he remembered what Chapman was talking about.

"It's the _NBA on NBC _theme," said Scott. "You know, it goes like," Scott then hummed the song to the players in the locker room, who apparently had not heard it before. They listened closely to Scott's 'rendition', intrigued by the music. When Scott finished, he said, "It's called 'Roundball Rock'. It was the theme for _NBA on NBC_ back in the '90s when the Chicago Bulls-my hometown team-were beating the crap out of the rest of the NBA," said Scott. "It never left me, I remember it to this day. And why not, it was awesome!" He said to answer any other questions. But the players were still wondering; why did the scene end with a discussion about '90s sports themes?

"Just asking," said Luke Chapman. The rest of the players got dressed, and soon, they were ready to leave for the hotel. The next day, they would leave Denmark and return to Scotland.

When Tai got back to his apartment, he was greeted by an enthusiastic Agumon-who had Digivolved recently-over his recent performance in Aalborg. "Tai, how did you do that?" He said.

"Do what?"

"You know," said Sora. "Score twice in two minutes."

"Oh yeah, that," said Tai.

"That was fantastic," said Sora. "Where did you get... oh wait, you've always had it, haven't you?" She was reminded of his determination when they were DigiDestined.

"Oh yeah," he said.

"So now what?"

"Now what?" Tai asked in a surprised voice. "Now we gotta beat Villarreal! I wonder what Scott thinks about that," he said out of mere curiosity and not for some reason that some others might think of (A/N: yaoi fangirls, I'm looking at you. It's just curiosity, nothing else. GOT IT!)

"Man, I can't wait to beat Giuseppe Rossi," said Scott to Maggie.

"Why is that?" She said.

"The man's a traitor," he said. "Instead of playing for his birth country, he's playing for Italy!"

"Wait, what?"

"The man's from New Jersey and he's playing for the Italian national team," said Scott. "That's not exactly going to help you in the long cause, especially if you ever score against your birth country."

"I know what ye mean," said Maggie. "Aiden McGeady's from Glasgow, but he plays for Republic of Ireland. Wait, why are you insulting Giuseppe Rossi?"

"Because he plays for Villarreal!" Scott said. "But so does Jozy Altidore, but I don't have any hard feelings against him. He and I are teammates on the MNT."

"MNT?"

"Men's National Team," said Scott. "Okay, so McGeady plays for Ireland. And I'm guessing most of Scotland is pissed off about that, am I right?"

"Aye, not just Celtic fans. And McGeady isn't the only one, either," said Maggie.

"Who's the other one?"

"James McCarthy is playing for Ireland, too."

"You mean that guy from Hamilton?" Scott said.

"Aye, that one," said Maggie.

"You mean three Scottish players play for Ireland?" Scott asked. "That's gotta suck!"

Discussions of football traitors aside, Celtic still had to play in the SPL and win against Villarreal in two weeks. In the time between the match against Aalborg and the one against Villarreal, Celtic had to deal with Inverness Caledonian Thistle coming to town and a road trip to Edinburgh to play Hibernian. We start with the match against Inverness.

The game was hard-fought from the beginning. With Tai starting and Scott on the bench, Tai was given the opportunity to show his skill once again. Of course, Scott wasn't too happy about that. Inverness came into the match determined to end Celtic's eleven-match Scottish Premier League win streak at the time. However, thanks to the news of hated rivals Rangers' loss to Heart of Midlothain before the start of the match, the Celtic Park crowd was in high spirits. Nothing could damper that spirit, not even an onslaught from a team at the bottom (surprisingly) of the SPL.

Caley created few chances for Celtic to score in the first 28 minutes. But that's the key-28 minutes. Starting in the 14th minute of the game, Celtic began to impose themselves on Caley. In the 29th minute of the match, Celtic had possession. Paul Hartley managed to win possession as he threw the ball in to Shunsuke Nakamura, the other Japanese player on the Celtic roster. Nakamura sent a reverse chip to Tai's path. Tai took the ball and with a perfect opening, shot the ball into the lower corner of the net, sending the Celtic Park faithful into a frenzy. The score was 1-0 to Celtic. But Caley wasn't going to give up so easily. For the rest of the half, Inverness gave Celtic few chances to score. At the same time, the Celtic defense held the upstarts from the Highlands, as well. It was hard-fought, but Celtic hung on for the victory to move seven points ahead of Rangers in the SPL standings, and win their 12th straight SPL match.

"That was a good game you had there, Tai!" Sora said after the match.

"Too bad we didn't get more chances to score," he replied. "And that goal I did score, I only managed to tap it in, somewhat."

"Well, then who cares?" She said. "You won, that's the most important thing about it."

"Except that they held us to very little scoring opportunities," said Tai. "It would have been nice if we won by more."

"Well a win's a win," said Sora. "Maggie told me that Scott tends to cite these things called 'Grinder Rules', as he calls them. She says they refer to his favorite baseball team. She says that two of his favorites were 'Win. Or die trying,' and 'Only one statistic matters: W'. I suggest you follow those rules and accept the victory."

"I know, I know!" he said. To stop her from bugging him about it, he changed the subject. "So are you coming to Edinburgh with the team?"

"Yes," she said. "But I'd like to get there one or two days before the rest of the team. I want to see the Royal Mile!"

"I'm not sure if Strachan will be okay with that," he replied. "But I'll ask him anyway."

It turns out Tai was not the only one asking Strachan permission to go to Edinburgh one or two days before the rest of the team, because Scott was also asking the same question. Maggie and Sora must have been conspiring together. Strachan reluctantly agreed, on the conditions that the group stay in the same hotel as the rest of the team, which is a given, that Scott and Tai travel with the team back to Glasgow and that this be the only time it happens. Both Scott and Tai agreed, while the girls reluctantly agreed. As long as they got to go to Edinburgh and see the Royal Mile, they were fine with it. Because they couldn't really take a car ride, the four of them took the bus instead. Scott and Tai had a one-way ticket while Sora and Maggie had a round-trip.

"WOW!" Sora said, clearly amazed by the Royal Mile. "This is much more amazing than Tokyo!" She said.

"Is she usually like this?" Scott whispered to Tai.

"She's usually not this enthusiastic," said Tai. "Usually, she's just more down-to-earth."

"Then I guess she must like this place," said Scott. Because the group was trying to keep a low-key profile, Scott was wearing a Florida Gators jacket and Tai was wearing the same jacket he was wearing in December of 2002.

"Sora, I didn't know you could get so enthusiastic," said Tai.

"Neither did I," said Sora. "I guess I sounded a lot like Mimi there." The reason for the enthusiasm was because the four of them were looking out over the city from Edinburgh Castle.

"Well I guess I gotta admit, even with the Sears Tower, you don't get a view like this in Chicago," said Scott. "I've seen a view sort of like this in Chattanooga, Tennessee."

"Mt. Fuji has some good views," said Sora. "The Tokyo Tower is nice, but you can't beat Fuji-san."

Maggie seemed to be checking her watch frequently, which got Scott a little concerned. "Hey Maggie; why are you checking your watch so much?"

"Because I don't want tae be late fer the One O' Clock Gun, that's why," she said.

"What's that?" Sora asked.

"It's when they fire an artillery gun at one in the afternoon," said Maggie. "I was checking my watch so we don't miss it."

"Where do they do it?" Scott said. "We have enough time before 1:00, so I think we'll make it."

"It's at the Mill's Mount Battery here on the castle grounds," said Maggie.

"How do you know all of this?" Scott asked. "Are you really from Edinburgh?"

"Nae," said Maggie. "Ya do realize I've been here before, right?"

Scott had to mentally slap himself for his remark. _Duh!_ He thought.

"Sounds interesting," said Sora. "I want to see that."

"Ye won't be disappointed," said Maggie.

With the 1:00 hour approaching, a crowd of people hurried over to the Mill's Mount Battery to view the 1:00 Gun. Among them were our four main characters, Scott, Maggie, Tai and Sora. The 1:00 Gun must have been a popular event, because there was a pretty good-sized crowd. Even though Maggie told the others that this was really a way to give an accurate time check to ships in Leith Harbor. Along the way to the Battery, Sora noticed Maggie wrapping her right arm around Scott's left arm and getting close to him. Needless to say, Scott seemed to be nervous about Maggie's gesture, as he was looking away in an obviously embarrassed way, blushing somewhat. _I guess even anyone, even 22-year olds can be embarrassed by physical contact,_ she thought with a smile on her face. Although to test her theory, she had to try it on Tai. Except she didn't a chance to do so, because they reached the Mill's Mount Battery and the gun before she could get her plan into motion.

So around 12:58 the four of them were at the Battery, waiting for the gun to fire. The gun was a dark green L118 Light Gun; in other words, a fancy name for a howitzer. For a while, Scott and Tai got impatient, waiting for someone to fire the gun. At around 12:59, though, a man dressed in a British Army dress uniform, came out and approached the gun. The man paused at the left side of the gun (the ride side was facing the group) in silence. Tai and Scott, who had not seen this before, were puzzled at this, but Maggie told them to keep watching. Then the man adjusted the gun barrel to what was maybe a 40 degree angle. He stayed motionless for a few moments, partially to check his watch. Tai, Scott and Sora were not impressed, but Maggie told them to stay patient. Then the man touched what was probably whatever was used to fire the gun and-

**BANG!**

Even though they were expecting that, the whole crowed jumped in surprise once the gun was fired. "Holy schnikes!" Scott said, doing his best Chris Farley impression.

"I think my ears are going to be ringing for a few hours," said Sora.

"That made me jump ten feet in the air," said Tai.

"I told ye to be patient," Maggie said to the rest of them. "But did ye listen tae me? Nooooo!"

"Alright, alright!" Scott said. "So what are we going to do now?"

"Let's leave the castle grounds," said Sora. "I want to see the Royal Mile."

"What?" Scott asked. "But we just got here to Edinburgh Castle 30 minutes ago!"

"I said I wanted to see the Royal Mile!" Sora said. "We can come back later!"

"Yes, but-"

"Scott! She said she wanted tae see the Royal Mile!" Maggie said in an annoyed voice tone.

"Oh great, not you, too!" Scott said.

"I've seen Edinburgh Castle enough times already," said Maggie. "Let's go down the Royal Mile."

"I'd rather explore the castle more," said Tai, in an uncharacteristically unenthusiastic manner.

"Alright then," said Scott. "I'll flip a coin." Scott pulled out a quarter that he had in his pocket, which he had kept as a memento of his homeland. He put the coin on the tip of his thumb and with the flick of said finger, flipped the coin into the air. The quarter landed in his hand, and then he placed it on the back of his left hand. "Heads we stay here, tails we go to the Royal Mile, got that?" They nodded their heads. Scott slowly removed his right hand to reveal...

"Stupid coin," Tai muttered. The quarter had landed on 'tails' and thus the group were walking down the Royal Mile.

"Just don't blame me," Scott muttered back.

"I would like to," said Tai. "But Sora's having too much fun for me to complain."

"So I guess you like her?"

He was going to do this _again? _Didn't they already have this conversation? "Well she is a good friend, but-"

"That's not what I meant Kamiya," Scott said with an annoyed tone. "You know what I mean!"

Oh crap, he knew! "I don't know what you're talking about," Tai said to cover it up. "She's just a friend."

Scott laughed at Tai's lame attempt at lying. "That's what they all say! I've seen how you look at her and I didn't know any better, you have feelings for Sora."

"That's none of your business," said Tai. "Besides, what about you and Maggie?" Now Tai was on the offensive, as Scott was now the one who didn't have an answer.

"Hey come on, you two, let's go!" Neither Scott nor Tai could admit anything, since Sora called for the both of them.

"What are the both of ye talkin' about, anyway?" Maggie asked, as she had overheard them talking.

"Oh, nothing," said Scott. The group continued to walk down the Royal Mile, marveling at the sights, from a camera obscura to the Scotch Whisky Heritage Centre. Yes, there is a tourist attraction dedicated to Scotch. The group also saw a building called Glandstone's Land, which is a completely restored tenement from the 17th century. Of course, the place was closed in December, so they couldn't really see it. Although they were probably glad not to see it. Nothing like a filthy, crowded tenement to brighten the day! Along the way, they also saw a place called Deacon Brodie's Tavern, which Maggie said was named after William Brodie, who inspired the Robert Louis Stevenson novel, _The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde._ But when they got close to High Kirk of St. Giles, they came across a heart-shaped mosaic made out of bricks built into the brick pavement. Naturally, they were curious. "What the hell is that?" Scott said.

"It's a heart, of course," said Sora. "But what is it?"

"It's the Heart of Midlothian," said Maggie.

"The what?"

"It's the Heart of Midlothain. It's where the tolbooth or prison used to be."

"Huh," said Scott. "I'm guessing that's where Hearts got their name from."

"Exactly," Maggie confirmed. "And dae ye know what people dae with it?"

"What do they do?" Scott asked.

"They spit on it!"

"What!" Scott exclaimed, clearly surprised. "Well I'm not doing it!"

"Neither am I," said Tai. "That's gross!"

"I have to agree," said Sora.

"They dae it for good luck," said Maggie.

"Good luck or not, I'm not doing it!" Scott said, walking away.

At the end of the Royal Mile, near the Palace of Holyroodhouse, or just Holyrood palace, the four of them came across a bagpiper dressed in full regalia playing _Scotland the Brave_. Impressed by the man's skill, the group decided to get a better listen. Clearly, though, they were not the only people to want to hear this man playing his bagpipes. When the piper finished, the small crowd applauded his performance, and the piper doffed his hat in appreciation. "Did ye like th song, lads and lasses," he said to the group.

"Oh yeah," said Tai.

"Aye, 'twas good," said Maggie.

"Just good?" The piper said with a playfully offended tone in his voice. In other words, he was just pretending to be insulted.

"I didn't get tae hear everything," she said.

"Och, that's tae bad," he said. "Och, I forgot tae tell ye my name. My name's John."

"How are ye, John?" Maggie asked. "I'm Maggie, this here is Scott,"

"What's up?"

"This is Tai,"

"Hi."

"And this lass here is Sora."

"Hello."

"It's a pleasure tae meet all of ye," said John. "Sae I must wonder where're ye all are from?"

"Oh, I'm from Glasgow," said Maggie. "This is actually my fifth time in Edinburgh." That explains how she knew certain things.

"He and I are from Tokyo," Sora said while pointing to Tai.

"I'm from the States," said Scott. "My hometown is Chicago."

"Ah, Chicago, I've heard about that place," said John. "Isn't that were Al Capone is from?" Scott was _not _happy that John was mentioning Al Capone.

"You do realize there's a lot more to Chicago than a frickin' gangster who died in the 1940s, right?" He said while trying to control his temper.

"Scott, be nice," said Maggie.

"Well, I'm just tired of people equating the place where I'm from with gangsters! Nobody talks about how we're a world-class city, our festivals, our museums or buildings and whatnot. They just hear the word 'Chicago' and think 'gangster'!"

"Take it easy, Scott!" Tai said.

"If you had to deal with the shit I've heard, you'd get mad every time someone mentioned some _yakuza_ guy when talking about Tokyo! It gets annoying! Nobody talks about how we're bidding to host the Olympics!"

"The Olympics? Hey, we're bidding to host that, too!" Tai said. "You won't stand a chance against our bid!"

"Oh, puh-leaze!" Scott retorted. "All our venues are gonna be close together. I haven't seen any renderings yet, but that's what I've heard! What do you have?"

"Woah, woah," said Johm. " 'Twas just an innocent question, I didn't mean tae-" But the look on Scott's face showed that he _really _didn't like talking about Al Capone, suggesting this has been brought up _way_ too many times for him. "My apologies," said John. "So, ye two are from Japan?" He said to Tai and Sora, trying to change the subject. "What brings ye tae Scotland?"

"To be honest," Tai said. "He and I are playing for Celtic."

"Ah, so yer're footballers," said John. "Come tae think of it, I think I've seen ye on TV. But it doesn't matter. I assume yer're here for Hibernian?"

"Yep," said Scott. "We play 'em on Sunday."

"Ah, well good luck then," said John. "Even though I'm partial to the Hibees myself, I'm not the kind of supporter who blindly blasts any other team." Tai and Scott thanked John for his well-wishing. Maybe not spitting on the Heart would turn out okay after all.

Looking back, it probably would have been a good idea to spit on the Heart, because Celtic's 12-game unbeaten streak in SPL play ended that Sunday at Easter Road Stadium. Unfortunately for the yellow-clad Celtic, Hibernian (who wore a green top with white sleeves and shoulders, with white stripes going all the way down the sides of the shirt down the sides of the shorts, which were also green. The shirt sponsor was Whyte and Mackay) beat Celtic 2-0 on two almost lucky goals by John Rankin in the 55th minute and Colin Nish in the 69th minute of the match. It was an even worse day for Scott and Tai. It was probably bad for Scott particularly since the match was played on December 7. If you don't understand why, then you really need to pay attention in history class. Karma must have also been against Tai, because he never even came close to getting a shot off, despite touching the ball a good deal. Tai did have one shot at well, a shot, in the 56th minute after the John Rankin goal. He had the ball at around the penalty arc after Aiden McGeady, who had returned from injury, sent him a cross from the far side of the pitch. Tai was defended by Irish defender David van Zanten. Tai desperately looked for a shot, and fired from outside the penalty arc, but the attempt at a shot was blocked by the Hibs captain Rob Jones. Scott himself had no chances, as the Hibs defenders would defend him like hell as soon as he would get the ball. Neither he nor Tai got any calls from the refs. Although the first half went by scoreless, the second half, coupled with the two bizarre goals, would be the downfall for Celtic, and of course, they lost 2-0. It was bad enough that it will only be skimmed over.

After the match, Scott and Tai had to deal with the press.

"Colin Hansen, BBC Scotland. Tai, how would you describe what went wrong?"

"We just didn't get very many chances," said Tai. "They played good defense and we just didn't have very many scoring chances."

"Are you going to think about this match?"

"Well, we'll have to put it behind us pretty quickly, since we've got Villarreal at home in the Champions League this week, so we'll have to forget about it pretty quickly and focus on Villarreal."

"Kevin Gordon, Setanta Sports. Scott, do you think this loss will affect the team in anyway?"

"I doubt it. I mean, we have to focus on the future, we can't worry about the past too much so we'll have to put it behind us."

"Will you change anything against Villarreal?"

"I'm not sure, Strachan might have something up his sleeve, but I honestly don't know right now."

End chapter

So that chapter took me a frickin' _month_ to finish! And I apologize if the chapter wasn't quality.

By the way, I think this is turning into a slice-of-life sports story!

And the reason for the Giuseppe Rossi is because the bastard scored _twice _against the US-his birth country!-in the FIFA Confederations Cup, so I was understandably angry about it, so I felt like expressing my view in this story.

Reviews would be appreciated. And by the way, NO ADVERTISING IN YOUR REVIEWS! IT PISSES ME OFF!


	8. End of the Group Stage

Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

It was a cold night in Glasgow, Scotland. The Celtic Football Club of Glasgow and Villarreal Club de Futbol were preparing for their upcoming match on Matchday 6 of the UEFA Champions League group stage. It was the final matchday, and the implications of tonight's match were obvious: if Villarreal won or tied, they would advance to the first knockout stage of the Champions League. If Celtic won, they would advance to the knockout stage, and Villarreal would go to the UEFA Cup. But right now, both squads were getting loose, and were not thinking about the implications of the match... yet. For one Scott Michaels, it was a chance for a reunion with an old teammate.

"Jozy! Jozy Altidore!" The previously-mentioned Jozy Altidore (R) looked up from his warmups to see a familiar face walking towards him from the opposite side of the pitch. He smiled and said,

"Hey Scott, what's up?" He said as he gave Scott Michaels a pound-hug.

"Not much, man, I haven't seen you since, what, the Bronze Medal match?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Jozy. "So how have things been with you?"

"They've been okay," said Scott. "You probably heard about my suspension, unfortunately."

"Yeah, that must have hurt," said Altidore. "How did that happen?"

"I got into a fight with a teammate," said Scott. "And actually, he was on the Japanese squad we faced!"

Speaking of which, Tai watched Scott and the Villarreal player converse. It was obvious to him that the two knew each other, but how, he didn't know. But the player looked familiar, probably one of the players he faced in the Olympics. That question would soon be answered. "Hey Kamiya!" Scott Michaels called. "Get your ass over here; I want you to meet someone!" What the hell was so important? Oh well, might as well meet the guy. Tai jogged over to the two to find out just what the hell Scott wanted. "Tai Kamiya, I'd like you to meet Jozy Altidore," said Scott. "Jozy, this here is Tai Kamiya."

"Nice to meet you," Tai said, shaking Altidore's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," said Altidore. "By the way, you look familiar."

"He should," said Scott. "He played against us in the Bronze Medal match."

"Oh, against Japan," said Altidore. "Didn't he score that first goal?" Tai smiled a little, as he was proud of himself for doing so. Until-

"I think so," There goes that bragging right. "I think he scored during that game, but I can't remember when."

"Oh well."

"And he's still pretty sore about my goal," said Scott. "He and I got into a fight because of it, and that's why we got suspended."

"We?" Altidore asked.

"I hear he got suspended from the Japanese team," said Scott. Did you?"

"Yeah, I did," said Tai. "They almost kicked me off the team completely."

"Damn, that must have hurt," said Altidore.

"You have no idea," Tai muttered.

"That must suck," said Altidore. "So Scott, have you seen Edu lately?" He said, referring to fellow American Maurice Edu, who was playing for Rangers.

"I haven't seen him lately, but I have seen Beasley," said Scott. "I think he's going on loan to Paris Saint Germain, though. And I think he said Edu might go on loan somewhere else [1]."

"Oh well, then."

"By the way," said Scott. "Where's Rossi," referring to Giuseppe Rossi, another American, but played for Italy. "I wanna yell at him at the top of my lungs."

"Rossi? He's not here," said Altidore. "He was left behind in Spain."

"Oh well," said Tai.

"Damn. Oh well, it was nice seeing you anyway," said Scott. "And by the way, stay away from the haggis. It looks like my grandma's meat loaf."

"Ha ha ha! Alright, I will," said Altidore. "Take care of yourself, alright?"

"Alright, I will," said Scott.

"It was nice to meet you," said Tai.

"Nice to meet you too," said Altidore. "Good luck."

"We don't need it," said Tai. "We're good enough."

"Determined, isn't he?" Altidore asked.

"You have no idea," said Tai.

"Thanks for the tickets again Maggie," said Sora as she and Maggie got settled into their seats. It was in the same location as they had sat in when they went to the Celtic-Man U game-just three rows from the pitch at midfield.

"Aye, daen't mention it," said Maggie. "A friend of mine had them first and he gave them tae me."

"Then I'll have to thank him," said Sora.

"Aye, ya will," said Maggie.

The both of them settled into their seats for the game. They would probably go and get some snacks and pop (as Scott called it) later on, since people were still filing into the stadium. And Scott and Tai seemed to be talking with one of the Villarreal players. But did it matter to them? Nah. It was probably someone Tai and/or Scott knew.

So while they waited for the match to start, Sora decided to get out her cell phone and check her e-mail. She can access her e-mail from her phone, okay? Anyway, moving on. While looking through her mail, she noticed one that was from Kari. Although she didn't know why Kari would send it at first, she shrugged mentally and opened the e-mail. It started out as a standard e-mail, a sort of 'how do you do, I'm doing fine' kind of thing. But as she read the e-mail more, her face turned into one of concern. "Oh dear, Tai's not going to like this," she said.

"Wha' is it?" Maggie asked with a worried look on her face. "Wha' isn't he gonna like?"

"Well, I can't show you, because the e-mail's in _kanji_ and I'm guessing you can't read that, so I'll whisper to you." She leaned over to Maggie and whispered something in her ear. Maggie's face showed intrigue and slight concern as she heard the news.

"Oh dear, I'm guessing he's nae gonna like that," she said. She pulled out her phone, too. While looking around, she noticed something on her phone that also gave her a concerned look. "Och," she said. "Scott's nae gonna like this."

"What?" Sora asked. Maggie showed her what was on her phone and Sora again had a face of concern. "When do you think we should tell them?"

"I daen't know," said Maggie. "They'll probably learn about it at some point, sae we may nae' hav' tae tell them."

"Well, I guess you have a point," said Sora. "Just as long as they don't get too mad."

It was approaching match time. The two teams were lined up in front of the main stand as 60,000 fans, but supporting Celtic and Villarreal cheered wildly as the UEFA Champions League anthem played. Celtic were wearing their standard home kits (of course) with the white back. Villarreal wore their all-yellow kit-yellow shirt, shorts, and socks-today. The Villarreal shirt included the shirt sponsor Aeroport Castello. The Puma logo was on the right side of the chest and both shoulders, and the club's crest was on the left side of the chest. The number and names were in blue [2].

The anthem ended and the volunteers ran off the pitch with the giant Champions League logo with them. The starting XI for each team looked like this:

Celtic (4-4-2): GK 1 Artur Boruc; 2 DF Andreas Hinkel, 4 DF Stephen McManus (c), 6 DF Gary Caldwell, 12 DF Mark Wilson; MF 25 Shunsuke Nakamura, 8 MF Scott Brown, 5 MF Scott Michaels, MF 46 Aiden McGeady; FW 16 Taichi Kamiya, FW 9 Georgios Samaras

Villarreal (4-4-2): GK 1 Sebastián Viera; 2 DF Gonzalo Rodríguez, DF 3 Edmílson Gomes, DF 9 Guillermo Franco, DF 10 Cani; MF 11 Ariel Ibagaza, MF 14 Matías Fernández, MF 18 Ángel López MF 19 Marcos Senna (c); FW 20 Fabricio Fuentes, FW 24 Jozy Altidore

The two teams posed for their starting XI as the crowd cheered for them. 'You'll Never Walk Alone', strangely, was not playing, but it didn't matter right now. There were a few people singing in the crowd, but the whole crowd was not. Oh, well.

Anyway, back to the game. The crowd cheered as Celtic got into their famed Celtic Huddle. With kick-off approaching, the team broke the huddle and got into position. With the referee's whistle, Villarreal kicked off to the roar of the crowd, and the match was on.

The match got off to an interesting start when Mexican Guille Franco went down with an injury after getting tangled with Stephen McManus for possession of the ball. However, the Villarreal defender recovered quickly.

It took until the 3rd minute for Celtic to threaten. But even that went bust, when Scott tried to shoot on goal from 25 yards out, but Villarreal 'keeper Sebastián Viera made the save to the groans of the 60,000 in attendance. Scott was forced to shake his head and get on with play immediately.

The fifth minute was when _El Submarino Amarillo _[3] had their first chance to score. Celtic had the ball, but they cheaply gave up possession to Villarreal. _El Submarino Amarillo _took the ball and broke for Celtic's side of the The ball ended up getting to Guille Franco. The Argentine-born Mexican found some space and tried to toe-poke the ball in the net, but Celtic 'keeper Artur Boruc managed to make the save, much to the relief of the crowd.

In the 8th minute, Tai had his chance from about 25 yards out on the far side of the pitch. He was defended by Argentine Gonzalo Rodríguez and he was trying to use his 'Digi-agility' to find a way around the defender. But the Argentine stayed on Tai, which nearly made him pass the ball to the nearby Georgios Samaras, but Rodríguez slipped, giving Tai a perfect shot at the goal. He fired the shot from 25 feet out, but the ball sailed over the head of Sebastián Viera and over the cross bar. A disappointed Tai snapped his fingers and continued on with play.

The match continued and began to settle down after a while. Neither team was able to get another scoring chance-until the 12th minute, that is. That's when Celtic managed to break through.

Celtic caught a lucky break on that goal, though. But if you ask Tai, he won't say they were lucky-just good. This time, Tai had another chance. Mark Wilson received the ball at the byline from a team pass by Shunsuke Nakamura, Aiden McGeady and Scott Brown on the left flank. A lucky break allowed Wilson to get to the ball. The Scotsman sent a cross while the Villarreal defenders tried for an appeal for an offside. But Viera fluffed the ball, which allowed Tai to come in and head the ball in from close range, putting Celtic up 1-0.

C: _"Wilson, with the cross, Viera, gets his hands on it-TAI KAMIYA WITH THE GOAL! Tai Kamiya comes in and scores his third Champions League goal and his first at Celtic Park!" _With Tai's point-blank goal, the Celtic Park crowd went crazy, feeling that this might be the goal that would send them to the Champions League knockout stage. Tai meanwhile, celebrated by running over to the far sideline and sliding on his backside while he was swarmed by Celtic players.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Maggie and Sora were also excited, Sora more so, since it was Tai who scored. Unlike the strangely subdued pre-match atmosphere, the crowd was into the game, especially with a chance to advance in the Champions League on the line.

But Celtic were not out of the woods yet. They still had nearly 78 minutes to go. And it would look to be a long 78 minutes starting in the 16th minute. Jozy Altidore had the ball in the Celtic side of the pitch, being defended by fellow American Scott Michaels. It's not a tragic irony, just two players doing what they must for their team. Anyway, Altidore faked right, then left to sneak past Scott, but Scott, having seen Altidore play before, knew Altidore's tricks. Altidore instead tried to go around Scott and turned on the jets. However, Scott stayed in hot pursuit. Tai watched in fascination, hoping Altidore would make a mistake and lose the ball. The two Americans ran down the near sideline towards the Celtic goal, before Altidore had to pass to Fabricio Fuentes near the box. Fuentes passed to the right side to Matías Fernández who got it off the Guille Franco. Franco sent the ball towards the goal, but German defender Andreas Hinkel managed to block the shot. After a few more half-attempts by Villarreal, Celtic managed to clear the ball.

The game continued to settle down for the next 30 minutes; sort of. I hate to say it, but there were some cheap shots thrown by Villarreal players. In the 20th minute, Aiden McGeady had the ball against Ángel López. McGeady was eventually crudely chopped by López, and much to the Scots-born Irish national, the referee ignored it and play continued. But Celtic also had another chance to score a minute later. Scott Michaels sent a cross to the edge of the six yard box. The 60,000 fans in Celtic Park rose as the ball sailed to Georgios Samaras... and barely miss his boot by millimeters and go out-of-bounds. Scott groaned in reaction after thinking that Samaras had it easily. Tai meanwhile snapped his fingers in disappointment. He was hoping the ball would come to him!

"Argh, just barely!" Maggie groaned after Samaras just missed his chance to put Celtic up by two.

"I really thought they had that," said Sora. "Viera didn't look prepared at all."

"Aye, it was a costly move by Villarreal," said Maggie. "Celtic should have capitalized."

"They might have some time to do so later, but it seems like the game's settling down," Sora said as the ball was kicked into the Celtic half of the pitch.

Afterwards, Villarreal got away with another blatant foul, this one by Ángel López on Aiden McGeady, just a minute after the failed goal attempt. The referee ignored the foul, but to the dismay of the Celtic players and the fans in Celtic Park. However, the referee urged play on and the foul was forgotten.

But that ended in the 25th minute when Cani (Ángel López) fouled Celtic captain Stephen McManus. This time, the referee saw the foul and charged him with one, much to the delight of the Celtic players and supporters.

The game began to settle down somewhat, save for a close moment when Aiden McGeady had a shot from 30 yards out in the 26th minute. McGeady's shot fizzled about an inch or two wide of the target, drawing groans from the Celtic fans. After that, the game began to settle down somewhat, with neither team really getting a chance on goal. Oh, there were close calls, but none of them were any good.

That changed in the 36th minute. Gary Caldwell and Guille Franco were tangled up, going after a loose ball. The two tripped up and the ball got away from them. Suddenly, the two got into an altercation, in which the referee ran over the two and broke up the altercation. At that point, the referee flashed the red card at the Mexican, not only to his dismay, but to the other Villarreal players. The Celtic supporters, meanwhile, cheered loudly, and some Celtic players applauded his decision. However, Celtic got off easy, since replays showed Franco only raised his hand at Caldwell and there was only minimal contact.

Five minutes later, after a failed corner kick by Celtic, _Submarino _captain Marcos Senna got himself in trouble. This time, it was actually deserved. Scott Michaels had the ball and was driving towards the goal when Senna lunged at him and knocked him over. Scott called for an appeal for a yellow card. The referee complied and gave Senna a booking. The Celtic fans cheered in response. Things were starting to go their way. After that, Senna nearly got a red card when he got into an altercation with Georgios Samaras and Scott Brown. However, the referee missed it. At 45 minutes, the officials gave 2 minutes to stoppage time. Enough time for Celtic to score.

In the 2nd minute of stoppage time, with the clock winding down, Scott Brown passed to the other Scott, Michaels. With Tai as his wingman, Scott raced down the field with the ball, evading Villarreal defenders left and right before stopping at 20 yards out and firing from there. Viera had no chance and the ball went into the bottom corner, sending the Celtic Park crowd into a frenzy.

C: _"Scott Michaels scores from 20 yards out to put Celtic up 2-0! This could be the goal that sends them to the Knock-out stage of the Champions League! After a subdued start, the fans here at Celtic Park are going crazy!"_ Scott celebrated by jumping in the air a la Michael Jordan and pumping his fist, then doing his 'Gator Chomp' celebration. Tai went over to congratulate Scott, the both of them doing a 'side bash'.

"Great goal, man!" Tai said. But Scott put his index finger up, as he tried to listen to the song that was being played over the PA. Then he laughed when he recognized the song. "What's so funny?"

"That's the Florida Gators fight song they're playing!" Scott said. "I didn't know they could get it!"

"So they're playing it for you? Why do you get special treatment?"

"I dunno!" Scott said. "But we gotta ignore that for now."

And that pretty much ended the half. Celtic led 2-0 with 45 minutes to go. Barring a miracle rally by _El Subarino_, Celtic looked as though they would go to the knock-out stages of the Champions League.

"Things are looking good!" Sora said at halftime.

"Aye, we've been keepin' them at bay," said Maggie. "But I can't believe why the referees are bein' nuggets!"

"Why weren't they calling those fouls?" Sora asked, essentially in agreement.

"I don't know why," Maggie said. "So when should we tell them?"

"About what?" Sora asked.

"About the... you know."

"Oh, that," Sora said, remembering what Maggie was talking about. "I say we tell them later."

"They're going tae find out eventually, though," said Maggie. "I'm gonna go get a ginger."

"Can you get me a coke?" Sora asked.

"Aye, I'll get two," said Maggie. "On the rocks?"

"Aye!"

With halftime over, the two teams came back onto the pitch to the sounds of 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. Marcos Senna had been taken out of the match due to the possibility of a red card. But it didn't matter. Despite a few yellow cards, and some excellent shots on goal, the match belonged to Celtic. Villarreal was dead as soon as Scott scored his goal. Considering Villarreal only had 10 men on the pitch for the entire second half, they did pretty good, holding Celtic scoreless throughout the final 45 minutes and stoppage time. Finally, the whistle blew and the 60,000 Celtic fans in attendance erupted. Celtic were going to the knock-out stages.

C: "_And Celtic will go the knock-out stage of the UEFA Champions League for the third year in a row, thanks to three straight wins to save their European dreams, and spectacular performances by first-years Scott Michaels and Tai Kamiya, who combine for 5 goals in three matches! Celtic finish second in the group behind Manchester United with 10 points behind United's 13. Villarreal finishes in third with 8 and poor Aalborg only gets one point, placing them in dead last. And the sounds of 'You'll Never Walk Alone' fill the Glasgow night here in Parkhead."_

When the match finished, Tai raised his fists above his head a la Rocky Balboa again, while Scott did his 'Gator Chomp' again. Afterwards, Scott and Jozy Altidore congratulated each other for the game. "Great job tonight, man," Altidore said to Scott. "You guys deserve this.

"Thanks Jozy," Scott said. "Good luck in the UEFA Cup. And I might see you again on the national team."

"Thanks man, I'll see you then," Altidore said, leaving Scott to soak up the moment, then headed over to Tai. "Great job tonight Kamiya."

"Thanks, Altidore," said Tai. "Good luck to you on the US National team."

"Thanks man," Altidore said as he left the pitch.

Scott, meanwhile, was hoping to do something he'd been planning for sometime. But in order to do so, he talked to the officials. They gave him the okay and he ran over to the north stand near the midfield line and stepped onto the small billboards that lined the pitch with the UEFA Champions League sponsors. There he also raised his arms up and then with security's permission, he jumped into the crowd like a stage diver. While the fans crowded around him, he pointed to Tai and other Celtic players to come and join him, saying that it was okay with the officials and security. Tai, not wanting Scott to have all the fun, also ran to the north stand and leapt into the crowd. Other Celtic players also joined in, but they were mostly the younger players. The Older players simply watched them enjoy the moment. Especially since security was most likely not going to let them do it again. During this, Tai and Scott noticed Sora and Maggie waving at them. The two players pointed at the girls in reaction and then continued celebrating with the fans. Tai and Scott, meanwhile, celebrated with each other. Not bad for two guys who got suspended a few months ago for getting into a fight with each other.

In the dressing room, the players congratulated each other on a job well done. Strachan himself congratulated them, particularly Tai and Scott. "Five goals fer the both of ya combined. I'm not sure if I've ever seen anything like that!" He said. After Strachan left, the players began to talk amongst themselves about other issues. Scott, meanwhile, had a question for Tai.

"Hey Kamiya," he said. "Do you have any plans for the 25th?"

"No, why do you ask?" Tai replied.

"Because I'm having a Christmas party that day and I'm inviting you and Takenouchi to come," he said. I've already invited [Luke] Chapman, [Gary] Boyd and [Scottish midfielder] Kevin McKenzie (F) to come and they've all said yes. Gordon and McKenzie are most likely brining dates, so you're welcome to bring Takenouchi."

"Alright, I'll come," said Tai. "Should be fun. Just send me the apartment number, alright?"

"You got it, buddy," Scott said. "And by the way, let's celebrate tonight; how about that Highlander pub?"

"Sounds good to me."

Once outside, Tai and Scott were greeted by a very enthusiastic Maggie and Sora. Sora just ran up to give Tai a high-five but Maggie ran into Scott's arms and the two of them embraced, much to Tai and Sora's confusion. "Why are you doing that?" Sora asked.

"Because we've been dating for two weeks now," said Scott. The answer surprised Sora and Tai. But Sora's surprised turned to joy, while Tai was simply confused.

"Oh you are, that's wonderful!" Sora said.

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Tai asked.

"Because we forgot," said Maggie.

"Oh, that's why," said Tai. "Oh, Sora, you want to come to a pub and celebrate?"

"I'd love to!" Sora said. "Is Maggie going?"

"Of course she is, I'm going to!" Scott said in response.

"Alright, so where are we going?" Sora asked.

"There's a pub owned by a Highlander in the City Centre," said Scott. "It seems like a pretty good place to go."

Colin Gordon, the Highlands-born pub owner previously mentioned, and first appeared in chapter one, was cleaning off the bar area. His pub was usually open to 2 in the morning, so it was still pretty full. Most of it was filled with people wearing Celtic tops, many of whom had watched the match against Villarreal on the telly. The pub had erupted when Celtic scored, first when Taichi Kamiya scored and then when Scott Michaels put them up 2-0. He had though they were going to destroy the place, they were so happy! But, things had quieted down now and the pub patrons were discussing things like women, snooker, other things. But that's when they walked in. No, they weren't troublemakers; they were Scott Michaels and Taichi Kamiya. How did he know? Because when the door to the pub opened, the place erupted like at Celtic Park earlier. "Ah, welcome laddies!" He said to the two of them. "And lasses." He said, referring to Sora and Maggie.

"What's up... er, Colin, right?" Scott asked.

"Aye, 'tis my name," said Colin.

"Fantastic goals fer tha both of ye!" A voice from the pub crowd called out.

"Thanks, that's very appreciated," said Scott.

"_Arigatou!" _[4] Tai said. "I said 'thanks'," he said when the patrons didn't know what he said.

"So what will ye hae'?" Colin asked the four of them.

"I'll have a Carling," said Sora.

"Carling is fine for me," said Tai.

"I'll take a Miller High Life," said Scott.

"Ah'm no' sure if I'll serve ye American beer," said Colin.

"Well the last time you talked me out of it, I ended up with a terrible taste in my mouth," said Scott. "Just get me the High Life."

"Aye, a'right," said Colin. "And what will ye hae' lass?"

"I'll haf a Coke," said Maggie. "Scott says I'm the designated driver."

"Aye, I understand," said Colin. "Ya need someone tae drive, I suppose. That'll be £2.15 each for you three." Colin got the four of them their drinks, which they paid for. While they were having their drinks, Colin leaned over to Scott and whispered, "I see ya got yerself a good-lookin' lass, aye?" Scott's reaction was a spit-take, as he wasn't expecting _that_.

"Are you a dirty old man or something?" Scott asked, a little uncomfortable.

"Na, I jest see that she's a bonny lass, aye?" Colin said. "Ye've got yerself a good one."

"You can't have her, anyway," Scott said.

"What were ya talkin' about?" Maggie asked.

"Ah was just tellin' 'im he's landed hisself a bonny lass," Cloin said to Maggie. Sora and Tai were sniggering at Scott's embarrassment, to which he banged his head on the counter to hide his red face. "Don't det so worked up abou' it," said Maggie. "I think it's sweet."

"To you, maybe," Scott said. "To tell the truth, we've only gone out twice, so I'm not sure if we're ready to call our selves 'boyfriend and girlfriend' just yet."

"Och, daen't say that," said Maggie in a teasing voice. Colin, meanwhile, did the same thing with Tai, causing him to spit-take as well.

"She's not my girlfriend," Tai whispered to Colin.

"Keep tellin' yerself tha' laddie," Colin said. "And pretty soon, she'll be gone before ya know it."

"Why do I have to take romantic advice fro this guy?" Tai whispered to Scott. Scott's answer was a simple shrug.

"So ya think the both of ya will start in the Old Firm match on the 27th?" Colin asked Scott and Tai.

"Most likely," said Scott. "Strachan seems to like our performances."

"I think so too," said Tai. "We've scored five goals combined in the Champions League, that would be a good reason to put us in."

"Aye, it would," said Colin. "So ha' ya gotten used ta drivin' on the left side o' the road yet?" He asked Scott.

"No, not one bit!" Scott replied. "Sometimes I get in my car and I forget the steering wheel's on the right side of the car!"

"We got it off easy," said Tai. "We're used to it."

"Damn, I'm the only one not used to it," said Scott.

"So wha' abou' tha' stunt ye pulled after the match, Michaels?" Came a voice from the back. Scott turned around and said,

"What'd you say?"

"When ya leapt intae the crowd!" The man who had a balding head said. "What was that?"

"It's called a 'Lambeau Leap'," said Scott. "It's done by the members of the Green Bay Packers American football team whenever they score a touchdown."

"It is?" Colin asked.

"Yeah, but there's one problem," Scot said. "I fucking hate the Packers! I'm a Chicago Bears fan!" Tai, Sora and Maggie sniggered in response. "What? Oh, forget it."

"Ah, so I see," said Colin. "So wha' aboot tha Knock-out stages?"

"Now, we wait," said Tai. "We don't know who we've got next, so we'll have to wait and see."

"Aye, I see," said Colin. "Well, tha best o' luck to tha both of ye," said Colin.

"We're probably gonna need it," said Scott. "And by the way, I'm hungry. What have you got?"

"Fish 'n chips, laddie, fer one," said Colin.

"You got any cheeseburgers or something?" Tai asked, stealing the question out of Scott's mouth.

"No, we don't," said Colin. "But we got some old pies in the back, if ye want me to get some."

"Um, sure," said Scott, not exactly sure what to go with. Colin brought out a pair of Scotch pies that looked as though they've been cooked too long. Tai and Scott looked at the pies, wondering if they should eat them. "Looks like my grandma's spiral ham," said Scott.

"Should we eat it?" Tai asked.

"Considering the house beer is 'frickin' great', I'm not sure," said Scott, referring to that mystery beer he had in chapter 1.

"Let's give it a try anyway," said Tai. Dig in! The two took their forks and took a bite out of the pies. After chewing and swallowing, they waited for something to happen. Well, something happened, because they were in a race to get to the bathroom.

"What was in that pie?" Maggie asked.

"Some steak that was cooked in the house beer," said Colin. "It's frickin' great!"

Sora and Maggie just looked at each other, turned to Colin and said, "We'll just have fish and chips."

"Damn, I'm never eating there again," said Scott. He was still feeling the effects of the Scotch pie that was apparently 'frickin' great'. The quartet had gotten back to their apartment complex just now.

"I think my mom makes better recipes than that," said Tai.

"Oh, don't be so mean to your mom," said Sora. "She's a nice lady!"

"Yeah, but you've never had to eat her recipes!" Tai said in response.

"My maternal grandma is just as bad!" Scott said. "I think in her old age she's lost her touch."

"I don't think ye should be insultin' Colin like tha'," said Maggie. "He's a nice man."

"Yeah, sure," said Scott. "Oh, by the way, Kamiya, have you asked Sora about the party?"

"What part-ooohhh," Tai said, remembering what Scott was talking about. "Sora, Scott invited us to a Christmas party on the 25th and he invited us to come. Do you want to?"

"Will Maggie be there?" Sora asked.

"Aye," said Maggie.

"Then I'm good for it!" She said.

"You are? That's great!" Tai said. He turned to Scott and said, 'What time?"

"Probably 3:00 PM," said Scott. "You can bring gifts; I'll probably have some for the other guests, too."

"Sounds good," said Tai. "I guess Sora and I will be there!" Sora and Maggie left the two players alone.

"So what did Colin ask you about your girl?" Scott asked.

"It's none of your business," said Tai. "You've already got a 'bonny lass'!"

"Oh, shut up!" Scott said as Tai walked away cackling. The two did not know about the big football news of the day besides the Celtic victory; news that would shake them up big time.

Notes

[1] In this story, DeMarcus Beasley goes to play on loan for the French side Paris Saint Germain. In real life, he did not. Neither did Maurice Edu. This will be explained later.

[2] Here's the Villarreal shirt: http:(two slashes)2(dot)bp(dot)blogspot(dot)com(slash)_g-Ylxb54NUc(slash)Sb4H3npvASI(slash)AAAAAAAAHGU(slash)dbhIEvDELD0(slash)s1600-h(slash)Villarreal+CF+2008-09+Small(dot)png

[3] Yellow Submarine-the nickname for Villarreal.

[4] "Thank you!"


	9. Winterfest

December 21, 2008

Falkirk, Scotland

It was the 90th minute in Celtic's SPL match at Falkirk Football Club. It was 11 days after the Celts' victory over Villarreal to claim a spot in the UEFA Champions League knockout stage. But right now, Celtic had to deal with domestic play. After the win, they beat Heart of Midlothian 1-0 at Celtic Park. And now they were dealing with Falkirk. Celtic wore their away kits with yellow shorts. Falkirk wore their home kits, which were navy blue with white shorts and white socks tipped with a navy blue band. The sides of the kits and under the arms were white. The shirt sponsor was Central Demolition. Celtic currently led 1-0 thanks to a goal by Greek forward Georgios Samaras. Celtic's rivals Rangers had won on Saturday, so Celtic were feeling the pressure to win the match. Falkirk Stadium was mostly quiet, but there were signs of hope. But Celtic forward Taichi Kamiya intercepted a pass by Falkirk midfielder Burton O' Brien. Tai then passed to Scott, who took it down the middle of the field towards the Falkirk goal and then fired a shot on goal. The ball sailed past Falkirk's Austrian 'keeper Robert Olejnik.

C: "_Scott Michaels with a great finish to put Celtic ahead 2-0! That's his fourth Premier League goal this year!"_ Scott celebrated by doing a high leg kick and then performing his 'Gator Chomp' celebration. Tai simply shook his head at that. After 4 minutes of stoppage time, Japanese midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura picked out Tai again, to which the other Japanese player rounded Olejnik to put Celtic ahead 3-0 and put the game on ice.

C: "_And Tai Kamiya, with his fifth goal this season puts the match out of reach for Falkirk! And Celtic will win this match easily."_ With the 95th minute, the referee blew his whistle, signifying the end of the match, and a victory for Celtic. With the win, Celtic gained three more points to take a 4-point lead before the December 27th showdown at Rangers' Ibrox Stadium.

-  
December 22, 2008

Glasgow, Scotland

Tai Kamiya and Scott Michaels sat on a bench in Glasgow's George Square. The two were there along with Maggie Gordon and Sora Takenouchi, their female friends, to see Glasgow Winterfest, which they had been meaning to see for sometime. Sora and Maggie were ice-skating, which the two guys weren't to crazy about doing. Tai just watched the girls while Scott had some fish and chips, yet wishing he had a cheeseburger. Glasgow Winterfest took up the entirety of George Square. It included small shops, a carousel, a few rides, a temporary band shell, an ice rink, where the girls were ice-skating, and even a helter skelter. The perimeter was surrounded by lights decorations. It was in the evening, so the lights were on right now. There was also a large Christmas tree, which reminded the two of home, particularly Scott. It was a fantastic sight, one that both of them enjoyed—when they first arrived.

Being polite, Scott offered some of his fish and chips to Tai, which the Japanese man turned down. It was a cold night, probably around maybe 15-20 degrees Fahrenheit. They could see their breath in the cold Scottish air, which they were becoming used to. There was some snow in the air, which coated the ground like a white sheet. Tai was wearing his familiar blue jacket with the yellow paw prints and his famous goggles, while Scott wore a Chicago Bears jacket and a Florida Gators cap. Both of them were trying to keep a low profile, so no Celtic gear today.

The sights, sounds, and smells of the festival surrounded them. A Christmas song played on the loudspeaker, most likely a British artist. The lights were something of a distraction and Tai could smell Scott's fish and chips. They could also smell some food being made in the food booths as well as the people on the ice rink conversing amongst themselves and even some wee ones begging their mom to go on the helter skelter.

"I got an e-mail from my sister recently," said Tai.

"Oh yeah, what did it say?" Scott asked.

"She says she's considering going to college somewhere in the United States," he said.

"Oh really?" Scott asked. "Where?"

"I think she said the University of Central Florida," said Tai.

"That's where Jimmy goes," Scott said. Then Scott, once he realized the implications, started to laugh. "Goddamn, your sister going to my brother's university? That should be interesting."

"He'd better not hurt my sister," Tai said.

"Nah, he's not one to hurt a lady," said Scott. "Unless they're bitches to him."

"Well, that I can understand," said Tai. "Just tell him not to mess with her. Besides, she's already got a boyfriend."

"Alright, I got ya," said Scott. "So you're one of those over-protective types, right?"

"Guilty as charged," Tai said. Scott laughed in response.

"I'm not that way with Jimmy," said Scott. "He wouldn't let me. He'd always stand up for himself; partially because of my family's hot-blooded nature and the fact that he saw himself as a badass."

"Well Kari does get annoyed by it, so I have to tone it down sometimes," said Tai. "She says that I act as though she's still 8 at times. But I think she does appreciate when I'm really there for her. And probably because I've mellowed out since then."

"Yeah, sometimes Jimmy did admit he needed my help," said Scott. "But since he plays American football, he can be pretty tough."

"I guess so," said Tai. "Kari, she can be pretty independent herself, and she says that I get too overprotective. I guess she's right."

"Jeez!" Scott said with a laughing tone on his voice.

"But I guess that it might be justified," said Tai. Scott stopped laughing, realizing that Tai was getting serious. "When I was a little kid, Kari had pneumonia and my mom wanted me to watch Kari. But I really wanted to play soccer that day and to cheer her up I took her with me. But she collapsed and had to go to the hospital for weeks and she nearly died. When my mom learned of my stupid act, she slapped me; hard; Which I probably deserved."

"Jeez," said Scott. "That's rough."

"And it gets worse. When she came home finally, the first words out of her mouth were, 'Tai, I'm sorry I can't kick the ball very good. You'll probably never want to play with me again'."

"How is that worse?" Scott asked, completely missing the point.

"Because she almost always thinks of others, and not herself," Tai said with some slight anger on his voice. It was probably justified.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I just didn't know," Scott said. "I guess I have my own traumatic story about Jimmy."

"Oh yeah, what happened?" Tai asked.

"I think it was when I was twelve," said Scott. "Jimmy and I were playing catch in the front yard when I accidentally threw the baseball onto the street. Jimmy ran to go get it, when a car came. To be honest, I didn't see it, since I had my back turned. But I looked up to see my mom have a frightened expression on her face and then I turned around in time to see Jimmy just barely dodging a car. To make a long story short, I got slapped very hard and yelled at for nearly an hour. Jimmy was okay, though and I tried to be a protective brother from then on."

"Jeez," said Tai. "I guess we both have something in common. But neither of us is looking for pity,"

"Fuck no. And I guess much like your sister, Jimmy didn't blame me either," said Scott. "Although has said that it didn't matter because he would have dodged it no matter what."

"How is it that our talk about our siblings has reopened old wounds?" Tai asked, trying to lighten things up. Scott himself laughed at Tai's comment, which the Japanese player joined in doing. "So Jimmy's toughness rubbed off on you?" He asked to change the subject. "How so?"

"Well, he plays American football as a quarterback, which is a very important position in that game," he said. "And he gets hit at times by some people who are much bigger than him. Usually, the average person would be flat as a pancake after that, but seeing Jimmy get up from that unscathed just showed how tough he could be."

"Really?" Tai asked. "I've heard from a lot of fans that they think—and this is not my opinion—that American football's for wusses."

"Well they haven't met Jimmy!" Scott said. "Hell, he told me that's really not the case and that _soccer_ players are wusses. He said to me, 'how the fuck can we be pussies when you soccer players roll around like sissies when you get a hit? Show some balls and take it like a man'!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Tai laughed at Scott's—er, Jimmy's—comments. "He said that?"

"Yeah, and actually, after that, I would usually just get up after taking a hit," said Scott. "You've seen me, haven't you?"

"I guess so," said Tai, "Which is probably why you don't draw many fouls, since you just get up and keep playing."

"Of course, you do that too," said Scott.

"That's true," Tai replied. "Well getting back to our siblings, Kari was actually supposed to stay here in Glasgow with me. But for some reason, she went back to Tokyo with the rest of my friends."

"She was?" Scott asked. "Is that why your friend Sora is here?"

"Yeah, and it caught me off guard," Tai said. "I didn't know why Kari agreed to it, but she did."

"Oh, so that Sora girl does like you!" Scott said in a teasing manner. Tai, of course, did not appreciate it.

"What?"

"Aye, she's a bonny lass, innt she?" Scott said in a mock Scottish accent. Tai was not happy that Scott was mocking him about his relationship with Sora. Or he was mocking him about his inability to confess his feelings for her. Either way, Tai did not like it.

"Hey, shut up, this isn't your business! What about Maggie?" Tai tried to counter.

"You already know we're dating!" Scott replied. Counterattack: failure. The two fell silent again while Scott went back to his fish and chips. What I forgot to mention was that Tai had been growing his hair out again, and now it was starting to look a lot like it did back in 2002. But then he might cut the hair again at some point.

"Have you done your Christmas shopping yet?" Tai asked.

"I finished for my mom, dad and Jimmy three weeks ago," said Scott through a mouthful of fish. "I got done for the party earlier today. What about you?"

"Same here," said Tai. "Did you have to send your presents back to America, because I had to send mine to Japan."

"Yeah, I did," said Scott.

"So what does your dad do?" Tai asked. A little out of the blue, but a good question, anyway,

"Oh, he's a sportswriter," said Scott. "He writes for the _Chicago Tribune_, so he's somewhat famous in the area. My mom though, is a bit more famous."

"How so?" Tai asked

"She's a romance novelist!" Scott said with a laugh.

"What?" Tai said with a laugh.

"She writes romance novels!" Scott said. "She writes some sexy stuff. And Jimmy's kind of embarrassed by it."

"I'd probably be embarrassed if my mom was a romance novelist," said Tai.

"So what about your folks?" Scott asked. "What do they do?"

"My dad's a salaryman. A businessman," he said, clearing things up. "And my mom, well, she's a housewife."

Scott sniggered at the 'housewife' thing. "You're not mocking your own mother, are you?" He asked sarcastically.

"No, I'm not," Tai said. "But her recipes suck!" Scott laughed in response.

"Man, you're low!" Scott said sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Sora and Maggie enjoyed themselves ice-skating at the Winterfest ice rink. Sora, much like Tai, was wearing the same jacket that she wore at Christmas 2002, while Maggie wore a Scotland football jacket. She showed Sora some basic figure skating moves she knew—basic, not advanced. Sora watched, and tried to match them, somewhat successfully. But she just preferred to skate along the rink and not do anything fancy. A few people stopped to watch, but they mostly kept on with what they were doing.

"So what's Christmas like in Japan?" Maggie asked.

"It's pretty popular," said Sora. "Most of the main celebrations revolve around Christmas Eve and not Christmas Day."

"Oh really?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, and we tend to give cakes for Christmas, which are usually not eaten after the 25th, which is why women over 25 who haven't gotten married yet are called 'Christmas Cakes'!"

Maggie laughed at Sora's humorous statement. "Och, that must be bad," she said. "Sae there's no religious connotation?"

"Well, most of us are either Shinto or Buddhist, so the religious aspect doesn't matter to most of us," said Sora. "But what about here?"

"Well, the Church of Scotland has fer years placed less emphasis on Christmas and more on New Years, which is referred tae as Hogmanay," said Maggie. "But recently the Church is relaxing that stance, so now Christmas here isn't really that different from Christmas down south in England and in America."

"Really?" Sora said in surprise. "I didn't know that."

"Aye, but now ye dae," said Maggie. "Of course, it's still a little subdued, but ye'll ne'er now by looking at this!" She said, gesturing to the Winterfest decorations. Sora laughed, thinking it was interesting.

"There is another thing about Christmas in Japan," said Sora. "It is imperative for a single woman to have someone to spend Christmas Eve with." Too bad she didn't know about the implications to Maggie.

"Ah, I see," she said. "Sae will are ye thinkin' about Tai?" She jokingly nudged Sora as she said this. "Are ye goin' to spend Christmas with him?"

"Well we do stay in the same apartment," said Sora. "So I guess."

"You're livin' in the same apartment?" Maggie asked in surprise. "And ye still daen't know that that means?"

"Um, no," Sora said.

"Och, yer're such a nugget!" Maggie said.

"Wait, what—" Then Sora realized what Maggie was talkin' about.

"Ye are in love with 'im are ya?" Maggie asked.

"Well, I don't know," said Sora. "I only stayed here because I wanted to broaden my horizons."

"Keep tellin' yerself that lassie," said Maggie. "I can guarantee ye yer're here because you're fanny-struck with 'im."

"What does 'fanny-struck' mean?" Sora asked, as she was still not entirely used to the Glasgow patter.

"Yer're in love with Tai Kamiya!" Maggie said to clarify.

"Why are you bothering me about this?" Sora said. "You've only known me for a few months, if I wanted to be bugged about it, I would have called a friend of mine instead!"

"I thought we were friends!" Maggie said with and offended tone.

"I meant an old friend, no offense to you Maggie," Sora said.

"Oh, I see," Maggie said. "Someone ye know better than me?"

"Yeah, probably a girl I know," said Sora. "Her name's Mimi, and she's been a good friend of mine for sometime. I'd rather get advice from her."

"Aye, that might work," said Maggie.

"…Well, the thing about Jimmy is, he's not really a bad person. Sure, he's hot-blooded, a foul mouth, and kind of arrogant, but he's a good kid, really." Scott was just describing his little brother to Tai. Tai was also describing Kari to Scott, saying that she was a very spunky girl who likes to play jokes on people.

"You say 'hot-blooded' when you describe both Jimmy and your dad, what are you talking about?" Tai asked.

"The whole Michaels family is hot-blooded!" Scott said. "Even me!"

"You don't seem that hot-blooded," Tai said with a skeptical tone.

"Have you seen me celebrate?" Scott asked. Tai thought about it for a moment and then saw what Scott was talking about.

"Oh, yeah, now I get it," said Tai. "I guess I can get pretty hot-blooded too. Well, I'm not as crazy as I was when I was 11, though."

"Well, like I said, the whole damn family is hot blooded!" Scott said. "Sure, we can be low-key, but given the right situation, and you'd think we were related to Arnold Schwarzenegger!"

"Really?" Tai said, trying to keep his laughter down.

"Yeah, and there's a family in-joke that we're descended from the Irish hero Cú Chulainn—even though he's from the North of Ireland and our family comes from the South of Ireland; County Cork, to be exact."

"Cú Chulainn?" Tai asked which is justified since he didn't really know much about Irish mythology.

"Whenever he went into battle, he'd go into some berserker rage," said Scott. "And probably for weeks afterward, nobody would go near him! He was insane."

"That does sound crazy," said Tai. "Do you really think you can verify that?"

"I don't know if we can," said Scott. "I mean, it's mainly a joke amongst family members. It's sort of like the Spartans in _300 _claiming they're descended from Heracles."

"I guess so," said Tai. "So the JFA called me and they said they might let me back on the team for our upcoming World Cup qualifiers, probably against Australia. What about you? Has US Soccer called you?"

"Well Clint Dempsey told me that Coach Bradley might bring me back for the Mexico match," said Scott. "But I haven't heard anything from him yet."

"That sucks. By the way, does it ever get this cold where you're from?" Tai asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Scott said with a little indignation. "The Chicago Bears are _notorious _for playing in below freezing temperatures! And there's a lot of snow. What about where you're from?"

"It gets chilly, but not very cold in Tokyo," Tai said. "Hokkaido, now _that's _cold."

"No kiddin'. The thing is, in Chicago, an inch of snow isn't enough," said Scott. 'But in places like Texas, I have to laugh at those people because they cancel school with only half an inch of snow!"

"What?" Tai asked in surprise.

"I went to Texas one time and it started to snow. All of a sudden, everyone just started freaking out, the news, the cops, and I'm sitting here, thinking, 'it's just a light dusting! This isn't even enough for a snowball'!" Scott said.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Tai laughed at the silliness of the story,

"And you know what the crazy thing about this season is?" Scott said.

"What is that?" Tai asked.

"Before Christmas, winter is romantic. After that, it's 'when the fuck is spring gonna get here'?" The two of them laughed, until Tai saw Sora waving to him to come over.

"Looks like Sora wants me," Tai said. "I guess I'll go see her."

"Tell her you love her, dude!" Scott said in a teasing manner.

"Oh, shut up!" Tai walked off, not happy with Scott's teasing. Maggie, meanwhile, walked up to Scott and sat on the bench with Scott. She was holding two cups of hot chocolate in her hands, which Scott very much appreciated. With chocolate cups in hand, Maggie snuggled close to Scott and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Sae what were ya talkin' about?" She asked.

"Oh, not much," Scott replied. "Pretty much about our siblings and how before Christmas winter is romantic, while afterward, it's 'when the hell is spring gonna get here'?"

"Ha ha ha! Were did ya get that?" Maggie asked.

"I made it up," he replied.

"I see. Sae does it get cold where you're from?" She asked.

"I was already talking about that with Kamiya," Scott said. "You want me to repeat myself?"

"Just tell me," she said.

"Okay, then. In Chicago, it gets cold," he said. "Florida? No."

"Och, I see," she replied. "But is this a cold night fer ye?"

"Are you kidding me?" He asked. "I've been to White Sox games colder than this!"

"Oh really?" She asked sarcastically.

"And Bears games," he said.

"Yer're not impressin' me," said Maggie, much to Scott's chagrin. The two sat there, watching Tai and Sora converse while Scott whistled some song. "Wha' song is that?" she asked.

"_Bear Down Chicago Bears_," he said. "You mentioning the winter reminded me of the Bears, or 'Da Bears' as we in Chicago call them." Maggie stayed silent again, while Scott silently sang the words to the song. "…_You're the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, Bear Down_"

"Dae ya think those two will ever get tagether?" Maggie asked, referring to Tai and Sora.

"I don't know," Scott replied. "Kamiya seems to be in denial about it, but I hope they do."

"So does Sora," Maggie said. "They must be stupid or something."

"Hey, don't say that," said Scott. "That's not nice."

"I know," said Maggie. "I just wonder what they're talkin' aboot."

"So you and Scott seem to have something in common," said Sora. "He loves his little brother much like you love Kari."

"I guess so," said Tai. "He was also talking about how his brother may be a jerk at times but is really a good kid."

"Sounds like you, Tai," Sora said with a teasing tone.

"Come on Sora, don't be like that," said Tai.

"Well it did when you were twelve," said Sora. "In fact, it seems like you still act that way today."

"Do you have to be that condescending?" Tai asked.

"Not exactly," said Sora. "But it is the truth, you do tend to act a little hot-headed from time to time, like when you got in to a fight with Scott and you were both suspended for the Villarreal match at El Madrigal."

"That's ancient history Sora," said Tai.

"I guess you do have a point Tai," said Sora. "But I guess you have changed. A lot."

"Where did that come from?" He asked, since it seemed to come out of the blue.

"Um, nowhere! I didn't really mean anything by it!" Sora said. Neither of them could hear Scott and Maggie groan at her denial. Of course, they couldn't hear her, but they had a pretty good feeling about.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Tai asked. "About my conversation with Scott?"

"Yeah, pretty much," said Sora. "I guess you'll have to break up Scott and Maggie's romantic moment now." Well, not exactly, because he was beaten to a punch when a mom and her son, plus possibly a few friends showed up, and approached the bench where Scott and Maggie here sitting. They seemed to be discussing something, when Scott pointed in Tai's direction. That's when Scott stood up from the bench and gestured to Tai to come over, which he did.

"What's this about?" he asked.

"My son and his mates want ye to sign his footballs," said the mother. She and her son had red hair, while his friends had brown and blonde hair, plus a Pakistani kid. "They're big Celtic supporters and they'd appreciate it if ye could sign their footballs."

"Sure thing," said Tai. Hey, they may be trying to keep a low profile, but when kids ask for your autograph, might as well oblige.

"So what are your names?" Scott asked as he was handed a soccer ball.

"Mine's Liam!" The son said. He appeared to be around 11 years old, like his friends.

"Okay, Liam," Scott said has he signed his ball, and then handed it over to Tai for him to sign. "And your name?" He asked to the brown-haired one.

"It's Michael," said the other boy.

"Okay then," Tai said as he signed Michael's ball. "Who's next?"

"I'm Sean!" The blonde one said.

"Sean, huh?" said Scott. "Nice name. I have a cousin named Sean." He passed the other ball over to Tai, who also signed the ball. "And you?"

"I'm Saleem!" The Pakistani boy said.

"Ah, now that's a fine name!" Said Tai as Scott signed the ball. "So do you all play football?"

"Aye," said Saleem. "We're on the same youth club."

"That's nice," said Scott. "Do you want to play for Celtic?" The boys all voiced their confirmation, which made Scott and Tai chuckle.

"Well then, good luck to all of you," said Tai. "Maybe someday, you'll be giving autographs."

"Aye, and we'll be beain' those shite Rangers!" Liam said. He received a bit of a minor slap from his mom, though, while Scott and Tai just looked at each other.

"Cute kid," said Scott. Well, at least he didn't bash their Protestant—

"Well, I fergot tae mention, we're Protestant," said the mom. Okay, that was new.

"Ah, who cares?" Tai said. "I'm not Christian anyway, I'm just here to play. It doesn't matter to me."

"Aye, I knew that," said the mom. "I just wasn't happy when he said that word."

"Well, he's just a kid," said Scott. "So have you guys been to any matches?"

"Aye, we've been tae some," said Saleem. "We went tae the match against Manchester United and Villarreal."

"Oh, so you went to the Champions League matches?" Tai asked.

"Aye," said Michael. "And we saw ye score yer goals!" He said to Scott. Tai just frowned in response.

"Aw, thanks!" Scott said in appreciation.

"But we did see the Aalborg match on the telly," said Saleem. "And we saw ye score twice, Tai. Yer're my personal favorite!"

"Okay, you just put me in a better mood," said Tai.

"By the way, Scott," said Liam. "What's that gesture ye make when ye score a goal?" he tried to do Scott's clapping gesture. He was a little confused at first, but then realized what they were talking about.

"That's the Gator Chomp!" He said. He then corrected the kids and showed them how to do it. "See, you had it sideways. The lower hand has to be out as though you're asking for something, like this," He extended his left hand out, and held his palm up. Tai, not wanting to be left out, did this himself. "Then you take your other arm," he held his right arm out. "And have the palm facing the other palm. Then you go like this," he brought his right hand down on the left, and proceeded to clap like that. Tai and the kids then tried it themselves. "There ya go!" Scott said. "That's the Gator Chomp!"

"But wha' is it?" Saleem asked.

"It's related to where I went to college, the University of Florida," said Scott. "The athletic teams call themselves the Gators and the Gator Chomp is part of that identity."

"Why is it that your previous team had something like that," Tai said in an annoyed manner. "And mine doesn't?"

"I dunno," said Scott.

"So was that song they played after yer goal related to Florida?" Liam asked.

"Obviously!" Scott said. "The song's called 'The Orange and Blue'."

"Orange and Blue?" said Sean. Apparently he was Catholic. "How could a Celtic player like Orange and Blue?"

"Because that's the school colors," Scott said as he pointed to his cap.

"Your school gets a song?" Tai asked, somewhat upset.

"I'm guessing the fans of your team had their songs," said Scott. "Why not a university?"

"That's true," said Tai. "So do you kids want a photo?" The kids expressed their excitement in being able to get a photo with them.

"Aye, we want a picture with the American and Japanese Bhoys," said Liam.

"American Bhoy?" Scott asked with disappointment on his tone. "That's too broad. Didn't you read or at least see the cover of the _Celtic View_? Call me the Gator Bhoy!"

"And call me the Antler Bhoy," said Tai.

"Antler?" Scott said.

"Hey, you call yourself the Gator Bhoy, might as well call myself the Antler Bhoy," said Tai. Scott wasn't too happy though. But the kids got in the picture with Scott and Tai, with Liam, Michael and Scott doing the Gator Chomp while Sean, Tai and Saleem did not.

"Are ye gonna teach us yer school song?" Saleem said to Scott.

"If it's okay with your mom," said Scott.

"No, we have places tae be," she said. "But thank ye anyway for the autographs and the picture, they really appreciated it. Now what dae ye say?"

"_Thank ye,"_ all four of them said in unison.

"Hey, it's no problem," said Tai.

"Glad we could do it," said Scott. The two watched the group leave them and were just about to meet with the girls when they heard a voice behind them.

"Tai? Is that you?" The voice sounded familiar enough to attract Sora's attention. Scott and Tai turned around to notice a guy around the age of 18 or 19, with spiky maroon hair and brown eyes. And sort of looked a bit like Tai, including a similar complexion, except for the hair, of course, since his sideburns didn't look a thing like Tai's. But Tai recognized him instantly.

"Hey, Davis, what's up?" he said.

"Wait; is this that Motomiya guy from the Bronze Medal game?" Scott asked.

"Yep, this is Daisuke Motomiya, or as we know him, Davis," said Tai. "And Davis, this is my teammate Scott Michaels; he played for the United States in that game."

"Well, then, we finally get to meet," said Davis as the two shook hands.

"Pleasure to meet you," said Scott. But neither he nor Tai could see the look on Sora and Maggie's faces. Until Davis waved to Sora, that is.

"Hey Sora, how's it going?" Davis called to Sora.

"It's going great, Davis!" Sora said.

"So what brings you to Glasgow, Davis?" Tai asked.

"I'm here to play football!" Davis said. "And I have a new teammate." Said teammate stepped forward. He had short, dark blonde hair, brown eyes—which made him sort of the opposite of Scott—and appeared to be about 20 years old. And this time, Scott recognized him.

"Mike Jefferson?" Scott asked with a surprised look on his face. "How's it going?"

"Fine!" Mike said in response

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce you," Scott said to Tai. "Tai, this is Mike Jefferson, he also played on the U.S. team."

"Nice to meet you Mike," said Tai. "So are you here for the same reason Davis is?" Tai asked.

"Yep!" Mike said. "He and I are teammates."

"Oh, that's nice," said Scott. "Who're you playing for? Clyde?"

"Well, not really," said Davis.

"Is it Partick Thistle?" Tai asked. But that question was answered quickly.

"Tai!" Sora called. He and Scott turned around to see Sora and Maggie with worried looks on their faces, but that didn't register with them. "They're not playing for Partick Thistle!" After a moment of consideration, the smiles on their faces faded, and they gave each other a shocked look before they turned to the two with a look that was either shocked or dismayed, or a combination of both, because they were _not _happy about this.

"You guys are playing for _Rangers_?" Scott said with shock on his voice.

"Yep!" Davis said, oblivious to Scott's tone. "Isn't it… um, what's wrong?" Davis stopped his statement short when he noticed Tai and Scott had some _very _angry looks on their faces, as though they had been betrayed. In fact, that's pretty much how they felt now.

"What the hell, Davis, I thought you were going to play for us!" Tai yelled.

"Whoa, Tai, what's the big deal?" Davis asked.

"What's the big deal? The big deal is, I was your _sempai_ for years, and this is how you repay me?" Tai said. He was very angry right now. In fact, that might be an understatement, "By joining my team's biggest rivals!"

"The same goes for you, Mike!" Scott said as well. "If you were playing for Hearts or Man U, I'd be okay with that, but _them?_"

"What the hell's your problem, Scott?" Mike asked.

"Yeah Tai, why are you so mad?" Davis said, getting angry.

"Because we thought you'd come to Celtic, not Rangers!" Tai said. "And then this happens?"

"Has your ego gotten big as your hair Tai?" Davis asked.

"That's not the point!" Tai retorted. "You betrayed me!"

"Oh, so it is your ego!" Mike said.

"It's not ego!" Scott replied. "We feel betrayed by you two!"

"Well too bad Scott, we joined Rangers, and that's that!" Mike said.

"Okay, then, forget it!" Scott said, pointing at Davis and Mike. "But you'd better enjoy it while you can, because we're gonna kick your blue-nosed loyalist asses this Saturday, got that?"

"No, because you guys are gonna lose to us!" Davis said as he and Mike began to walk away.

"Keep telling yourselves that!" Tai said as they walked away. He and Scott turned around and went back to the girls.

"What the hell's a _sempai_?" Scott asked.

"I was sort of like his mentor," said Tai. "In a sense."

"Gotcha," said Scott.

"Boy, you sure showed them," said Sora.

"Can you believe that?" Tai asked. "When the hell did they join that team?" Tai expected a quick 'I don't know' from them, but instead Sora and Maggie delayed their answer, leading Tai and Scott to draw the same conclusion. "You guys knew all along?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" Scott said.

"We forgot," said Maggie. "We meant tae tell ye both but we forgot."

"You know, that's not exactly the excuse it used to be," Scott said in an annoyed voice.

"Really, we forgot!" Sora said.

"Would have been nice if you told us, though," said Tai.

"But Scott, I don't recall ye objectin' when Beasley and Edu signed with Rangers," said Maggie.

"Mainly because those two signed with Rangers before I signed with Celtic," said Scott. "But that's not the point! He was my teammate on the Gators and for him to essentially betray me like that—"

"The same with Davis," said Tai, interrupting Scott, which the American was not happy about.

"You guys are immature, you know that?" Sora asked.

"Come on Sora, don't say that!" Tai said.

Christmas Eve

Tai and Sora were putting on the finishing decorations on their Christmas tree. He hadn't had time to decorate it with his busy schedule and all that. Agumon and Biyomon—who unfortunately haven't been mentioned much lately—also helped. Well, Agumon could only do the bottom of the tree, while Biyomon had the advantage of being able to fly. The whole 'mad at Davis thing' had blown over—temporarily—and right now they were just enjoying the night. Outside, the snow was falling, like a scene Scott described once.

But it was also a romantic scene—too bad neither Tai nor Sora noticed this! Well, actually, Tai. For some reason, Sora could not get Maggie's teasing about her relationship with Tai out of her head. If she wanted that, she would have asked Mimi to tease her about it. Actually, though, she did. And the result was the same.

_Yesterday:_

"You know, if I were you, I would have smothered him a long time ago," Mimi said on the 23rd.

"Except I'm not you," said Sora.

"But why are you being so indecisive?" Mimi asked. "You were never like this in the Digital World!" Okay, now she was starting to regret getting yelled at by Mimi.

"But what about you and Joe?" She asked to deflect the question away from her.

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Mimi. "You just need to get your butt in gear and confess your feelings to him!"

"I think you've been reading too many romance _manga_," Sora said.

"Well, they've made me somewhat savvy when it comes to romance," said Mimi. "And I can tell you by the tone of your voice, you clearly have the hots for Tai."

Today

Stupid Mimi. She didn't love Tai, did she? He was a bit of an asshole, but was also a kind, lo—whoa, where did that come from? Sora shook her head to get those thoughts out of her head. _Jeez, I must be losing my mind_, she thought. _Stupid Mimi and Maggie._ _I can't be in love with Tai… can I? Oh dear, I am!_ _Or am I? Why am I acting like this? _Meanwhile, as Sora was having her little inner-battle, Tai, Biyomon and Agumon were watching her practically freak out.

"Um, Sora?" Tai asked. His question startled her and she nearly jumped ten feet in the air. "Are you okay?"

"Um, I'm fine," said Sora. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately." But Tai didn't buy it.

"Busy?" he asked. "I'm the one who's been busy."

"Oh, um, I need to lie down," she said to try and end the conversation. "Come on Biyomon, I need to lie down."

"But Sora, it's only—"

"I said I need to lie down," she said even more firmly. Biyomon shrugged—as best she could and followed Sora into her room, leaving Tai and Agumon alone in the living room of the apartment.

"Where did that come from?" Tai asked.

"Sora, what's wrong?" Biyomon asked as Sora lay down on her bed, "It's not even 9:00 yet."

"I don't know," said Sora. "I've just been getting teased by Maggie and Mimi about Tai. They think I'm in love with him."

"Maybe you are," said Biyomon.

"You too?" She asked. "Jeez, am I the only one blind to it?"

"I don't know Sora, I just don't want to see you like this," said Biyomon.

"Thanks, Biyo," she said. "I guess I can still count on you as a friend. Especially now."

"But what about Tai?" Biyomon asked. "Is he still a friend?"

"Well he is, but… I guess that's where the problem is. Maggie and Mimi think otherwise. That he's more than a friend."

Meanwhile, outside, Tai and Agumon finished putting the decorations on the tree. "I wonder what Sora's problem was," said Agumon.

"I don't know, she just started acting like that recently," said Tai.

"She seemed upset about something," said Agumon. "Do you think it's related to Matt?"

"Nah, she seemed to be over that a long time ago," said Tai. "I just don't know what her problem is."

"Maybe you should ask her," said Agumon.

"If only it was that easy," said Tai. "She might not want to talk to me."

"That's strange," said Agumon. "She usually wants to talk to you."

"She never acted like this when we were kids," said Tai. "Or at least I think she didn't."

"But you seem a little stressed out too, Tai," said Agumon. "Is something the matter?"

"Well, Scott has been teasing me about Sora," he said. "He thinks I… oh, forget it. I'm just gonna watch TV."

"Wait, Tai, what were you about to say?" Agumon asked with a worried tone on his voice.

"I said forget it," said Tai. "Let's see what's on BBC Scotland."

Scott and Maggie, meanwhile, had it a little bit easier. They also decorated Scott's Christmas tree and got the apartment ready for tomorrow's party. After they were done, the two simply sat on Scott's couch to watch and American Christmas movie, _Miracle on 34th Street. _Maggie was snuggled up to Scott and he had his arm around her as well.

"Did ya believe in Santa?" She asked him.

"I used to," said Scott. "But then I grew out of it like a lot of American kids."

"Oh well," said Maggie. "You know Sora was talking about how it's vital for a Japanese woman to have someone to spend Christmas Eve with."

"Let me guess, you're thinking of Kamiya, aren't you?" He asked.

"Aye," she said.

"Let's just let those two sort that out for themselves," he said. "They have their thing, and we have ours."

Later that night, when Tai and Sora were asleep, Biyomon and Agumon snuck out of Tai and Sora's rooms so they could talk to each other. "Sora's been acting strange," Biyomon whispered. "I'm worried for her."

"Tai wouldn't talk to me earlier," said Agumon. "I wonder what it is? He said it wasn't about Davis, though."

"Well Sora was talking about how Maggie and Mimi have been teasing her about her feelings for Tai," said Biyomon. "Maybe that's it."

"Well I did once hear Tai saying how Scott's been teasing him, too," said Agumon. "I wonder if it's related to that."

"Sora wouldn't say," said Biyomon. "I'm getting worried about her."

"I'm worried about Tai too," said Agumon. "I just don't know why they're acting like this."

"Do you think Tai has feelings for Sora?" Biyomon asked.

"Well, after she became Matt's girlfriend, he did drag me into the Digital World to train," he said. "I had to help him out so many times that when he started getting faster, I felt strangely left out."

"I wonder if that had anything to do with his feelings for Sora," said Biyomon.

"I don't know, he hasn't told me much," said Agumon. For most of the night, the two conversed about their humans' problems. Their confusion about their partners' actions and behavior only got even worse as the night went on. If only they knew what was going on.

End chapter


	10. The Christmas Party

Christmas Day

That Christmas morning, Tai was sleeping soundly, getting the best sleep he had in about 2 weeks. All those interviews about the upcoming Old Firm match up had tired him out a lot. Since it was Christmas day, it was likely he could get a little extra sleep until he had to wake up and go to his teammate's Christmas party. It was then that he was awoken by a loud noise that jolted him from his sleep. He looked around to try and locate the source of the noise and saw that it was coming from his phone. "Hello?" He asked in a groggy voice.

"Hey, Tai!" The voice on the other end said. At first, he recoiled from the voice, but he could tell exactly who it belonged to.

"Hi Kari," he said in a groggy voice. "What is it?"

"Well first off, I want to say, 'Merry Christmas'!" Well, that one was obvious. "And second, I want you to know that T.K. and I are coming to Glasgow!" Oh, that was ni—wait, what!

"What did you say!" He asked. Now he had fully woken up, thanks to Kari's little announcement.

"I'm coming to Glasgow to see your game against Rangers!" She said. "We want to see you play Davis!"

"How long have you been planning this for?" He asked as he got out of bed. "Three days?"

"Actually, I've been planning it for months!" She replied. "In fact, TK and I are at the Narita International Airport right now!"

"Now!" Tai said in and astounded voice. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"I didn't tell you because I wanted to keep it a surprise, silly!" She replied. It figures. "Hey, is Sora there?"

"I guess," he replied. "I'll go check. Hey, Sora!" Tai called after he opened his door. He suspected Sora may have been awake by now, since he could her some music coming from the living room of his Glasgow apartment. Although his hair was messy—bed hair—it was beginning to look longer, pretty close to the length it was when he was having those adventures in the Digital World. There was also chatter, possibly Sora and Biyomon. He knew Agumon wasn't in that conversation, since he was still sleeping in Tai's room.

Tai turned the corner into his living room, and sure enough, there was Sora, sitting on the couch with Biyomon, listening to some Scottish Christmas music that Maggie must have given her. "Oh, hey Tai!" She said once she noticed him. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas," he replied. "Kari wants to talk to you."

"Oh she does?" Sora said with a smile on her face. Apparently, she had forgotten about the previous night or something like that, because she wasn't being so... what's the word he's looking for? "Well, let me talk to her!"

"Oh, sorry," he said. He must have dozed off for a minute there before handing his cell phone to Sora.

"Hey Kari!" She said. Tai went over to the refrigerator to get some milk while he listened to Sora talk with Kari. "So, what did you want to talk about? ... Oh, really! ... That's great; I can't wait to see you guys! ... Well, we're probably going to open presents before going over to the apartment of Tai's teammate for a Christmas party ... Well, we think it'll be fun. Some of Tai's other teammates will be there, as well ... Luke Chapman, Gary Robinson, Kevin McKenzie, and probably some other players, those are the ones I know ... I don't see why not. Adult Americans and Brits give each other gifts, so I didn't see why we shouldn't ... So do you have tickets to the match? ... It's going to be big, I hear there's going to be a large police presence ... Well, I know someone who can get you some tickets ... Tomorrow? Okay, I'll see you then, take care now! ... Bye!"

"So what did she say?" Tai asked as he took a bite out of his toast.

"She's going to be in today or tomorrow," she said. "It is probably because of the long flight."

"I see," he said.

"Merry Christmas Tai!" Agumon's sudden entrance caused Tai to spit out his milk in surprise, while Sora tried very hard not to laugh at his comedic reaction.

"Merry Christmas Agumon," he replied, trying to recover from that.

"So when are we going to open presents?" He asked. Tai looked at Agumon with an intrigued look on his face. Although the dinosaur-like Digimon could be very mature at times-some times even more than Tai was back in the day-he could still have the same enthusiasm of a child. Of course, whether or not that's a good thing is another story. "And are you going to take your Digivice to the party?"

"Why would I?" Tai asked. "There's no need to take the Digivice, and if you want to open presents now, then knock yourself out." Agumon cheered and ran to the tree where the presents were. Finding a couple of packages that read 'TO AGUMON' on them, he quickly ripped into them like a typhoon at a seaside fishing village-or a tornado at a trailer park. Tai just watched the little dinosaur tear the packages in surprise. Agumon could certainly do some damage! "Just don't open anything that's for me," he said.

"Here's something for you!" Agumon said anyway, holding up a package with Tai's name on it.

"Toss it over here, Agumon," Tai said. However, one look at Sora's face made him change his mind. "On second thought, I'll come over there," he said. Agumon handed the package to Tai when he walked over to the tree. A quick unwrapping later and Tai found he was holding a show box.

"Open it," Sora said. She had a smile on her face, as if she knew there was something that would interest Tai. This of course, got Tai excited and he took the top of the box off to find more paper. He gave Sora a quick look before removing the paper. She must have wanted him to be excited.

Well, he was, because what he saw when he opened it made him smile from ear to ear. "New shin guards!" He said.

"Yep," she replied. "I noticed your old ones were getting worn out, so I felt I should get you some new ones. I don't know whether the club will let you wear them, but I'm still glad you like them."

"Of course I like them!" He said. "Thanks a lot!"

"Are there any for me?" Biyomon asked.

"There's something for you under that tree," Sora said. Biyomon scurried over to the tree and began scouring for something before finding one

"Here it is!" She chirped, holding up a package with the words 'TO BIYOMON' written on it. The bird-like monster tore the wrapping off, revealing another box. Biyomon then opened it and got a look at the merchandise inside. "Birdseed!" She shouted. Tai watched with confusion, as did Agumon.

"Birdseed?" He asked.

"She's grown fond of it," Sora replied. Tai nodded his head, but he still looked confused. "Is there anything for me in there?"

"Here's one from me!" Biyomon chirped, holding up another package. Sora had to wonder just how she got that, but she suspected that she had gotten it online. It seemed to be the most logical explanation. It would explain the strange charges he had gotten on her credit card bill. If it was, she'd have to scold Biyomon for that. She walked over to the tree and took the package from Biyomon. She tore the wrapping paper off and got a good look at the gift. Her face brightened as she got a good look.

"Wow, Biyomon!" She said. "I love it!"

"What is it?" Tai asked. Sora held up the gift. It was a picture of her and Biyomon from their adventures in the Digital World. "Wow," he said. "That's great!'

"I know," Sora said. "It's going to have sentimental value. Thanks, Biyomon!"

"You're welcome, Sora!" Biyomon replied. "I've also found one for Agumon."

"For me?" Agumon asked. "Let me see!" Biyomon handed the package to Agumon and the small dino-like Digimon tore into the wrapper. Agumon also brightened. "I love these things!" He said.

"What are they?" Sora asked.

"I love steaks!" Agumon said, holding up some prime beef. Tai snickered and Sora shook her head. "Here's one for you, Tai," he said again. "It's from me!"

"Oh, thanks, Agumon," Tai said as he walked over to him. He tore off the wrapper and got a good look at the item. He too, smiled. Just like Biyomon had done for Sora, Agumon had done for Tai. "It's an old photo of us," Tai said. In the photo, he and Agumon were giving a 'V' sign. "It's great, Agumon."

"I'm glad you like it," Agumon said. "Oh, here's one for Sora, from Tai."

"Really?" Sora asked. Agumon handed the package to Sora. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I did give him something." She tore the wrapper off and looked at what it was. The gift left her breathless. "Tai," she said. "Thank you so much." Just like Biyomon and Agumon's gifts to their partners, Tai had given her a picture. But this one had special meaning. In the photo it was her and Tai in their old football/futbol/soccer kits. The sentimental value was massive. "Thank you, Tai!" She said as she gave him a big hug, prompting him to blush like a ripe tomato.

"You're welcome Sora," he said as he hugged back. "But I got something else for you, too." He pointed to another package under the tree. Biyomon took the package and handed it to Sora. It was bigger than the other packages that had been given previously and Sora wondered what it was. She opened the package and got a look. There was a box and she opened the package to see what was inside. Again, she was rendered speechless.

"Wow," she said as she put it on the table and pulled out the contents. Inside were two of Tai's Celtic shirts; one with the green-and-white hoops, the other yellow. The yellow one had a black number and name.

"The yellow one is from the game I scored twice in two minutes against Aalborg," he said. "The other one is from the Villarreal ma—hey, what's wrong?"

"It's unfair," Sora said. Tai could see that she had some tears in her eyes. Why she did he had no idea. "I mean, you give me things that mean a lot to you, and I give you some shin guards," she said, trying not to crack. "It's completely stupid on my part."

"Hey come on," he said. "It's not that bad. I'll wear those shin guards against Rangers on Saturday if that makes you feel any better."

"It sort of does," she said. "But I wish I had given you something much more sentimental. I mean, you gave me a shirt from your greatest triumph, and I here I am, giving you shin guards."

"Relax," Tai said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I appreciated the gift. I don't understand why you're getting so upset."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what came over me. I guess it's just that I was surprised."

"I'm not sure why you'd be surprised," Tai said. "But I guess I should be glad you like my gifts."

"Of course I do," she said as she gave him another hug. The hug felt nice to the two 21-year-olds and it reminded them of their old friendship back when they were young. For Sora, it reminded her of… forget it. The two broke off the hug and turned back to the Digimon, who were staring at them. Luckily Sora knew how to end that. "Is there anything else there?" She asked.

"There's one from your mom Sora," Biyomon said. "I think it might be a new kimono."

"That would be interesting," she said as she took the package from Biyomon."

"By the way Tai," Agumon said. "What are we doing today?"

"Well Sora and I were invited to a Christmas party held by one of my teammates," Tai said. "Since he doesn't seem to think Digimon are real, I suggest you two stay here and just watch TV for the day."

"Ooohhhh," Biyomon groaned. "I wanted to go."

"Sorry Biyo," Sora said. "But we'll probably bring something back from the party."

"But why can't we come?" Agumon asked, starting to get desperate.

"I don't think my teammates would be too happy about a pair of Digimon show up," Tai replied. "They might freak out."

"Oh darn," Agumon said. Sora meanwhile, had finished tearing the wrapping paper of off her mother's gift and took a look inside. Indeed, it was a kimono, but it was not the kind of design she was expecting.

"A Celtic kimono?" She asked, examining the Celtic FC crest on the kimono.

"I never expected that," Tai said. Although Tai was confused, it did seem to give Sora some strange idea in her head. She seemed to remember something and bolted to her room leaving Tai behind very confused.

About 30 minutes later, she came back out, carrying some paper under her arm. Tai tried to get a look at it, but she hid the papers from him. She gave a look that said, 'not a chance'. He rolled his eyes in response, wondering just what she had on those papers. He looked at Biyomon and Agumon and shrugged. He watched as Sora put the papers in some kind of folder. Agumon though decided to change to subject to Tai's teammate's party.

"What time is this party?" He asked. "I think it's at about 2:00. His apartment is a couple floors below ours."

"That's convenient," said Biyomon. "Who is this teammate?"

"Scott Michaels, an American," Sora replied. "He invited Tai and I to the party after the Villarreal match."

"Really?" Biyomon asked.

"Yep," Tai replied. "We got some things for the party and they probably got something for us. Of course, I don't think Scott really said we had to get anything for the guys, but it doesn't hurt to bring anything, now does it?"

"I guess not," said Agumon. "Now can we finish opening our presents?"

"Yes, we can," Sora replied.

[][][]

With all of the presents opened, it was time to relax until it was time for the party. Tai had gotten some new football boots from his mom and Izzy had given him a new calculator. Joe had given him a sports medicine book in case he suffered something like a torn ACL. Really, that part was simply how to recover from a torn ACL. Ken had given Tai some boots as well. As for Matt, well, he didn't get anything from him; which is a shame really, since he felt he was still on good terms with him. He did get something from his mom and dad—each separately. Mister Ishida had given him a tape of an old interview on Fuji TV while Ms. Takaishi gave him a report on his Aalborg match. But since he and Davis were now sworn enemies, there was no way in hell Tai was getting anything from him.

Sora had gotten new shoes from Mimi—no doubt bought on Rodeo Drive. She had also gotten some make-up from Mimi as well. That lady sure loved to shop. She too got something from Matt's parents, probably since they saw her as a surrogate daughter even though she and Matt had essentially broken up. Yolei had sent her a JEF Chiba United shirt. Why she had done that, she didn't know, since she wasn't a JEF fan. Since Kari and TK were going to be in town tomorrow, they would get their presents from them.

For the rest of the morning, the roommates simply watched TV or prepared for the party. Tai got some time in to watch films of Rangers matches from this past season. He had seen Rangers in his debut match, but he didn't really get a chance to face them as a starter. He laughed to himself. He had come a long way in just a matter of months.

Rangers' top scorer was Kris Boyd, and he was tough to stop, being a goal poacher. Their playing style (at least in this story) was primarily defensive. Of course, there was also Davis. From his time with Kashima Antlers, he knew that Davis was a primarily defensive midfielder but when he was in position, he could be a real scoring threat. The Light Blues (Even though they wore regular blue), Teddy Bears (rhyming slang) and/or 'Gers would be a tough opponent. Of course, for this, we will just call them the Rangers, or just Rangers.

Sora meanwhile continued working on the papers she had with her. Just what they were he wasn't entirely sure, but she really seemed involved in them. When she was not working on that, she was mainly working on some food she was going to bring to the party. And yes, Tai, Agumon and Biyomon helped. There was no way Sora was going to do it alone.

Finally, at about 12:50, it was time to get ready to leave. Tai gathered up the packages he was bringing to Scott's apartment and Sora just gathered some of the food they were making. Not only that, she brought some of the papers she had been working on. Tai could not understand just what was so important about those. And no matter how many times he tried to ask, she would not tell him. "I'll tell you later," she said. Okay, so maybe she _might _tell him. "Biyo, Agumon, we're leaving now!" She said as she and Tai left the apartment.

"Bye, Sora!" Biyomon called.

"Don't get into trouble!" Tai said.

"We won't!" Agumon replied. With that, Tai and Sora closed the door.

The trip to Scott's apartment didn't take long. This was obvious since the apartment was only a couple floors below theirs so it was just a short trip on the elevator/lift to the floor. The doors opened and the two stepped out on to the floor. Eventually, they found Scott's apartment. There was some music coming from the door, which told the two that they were late. But there was no time (or need) to get angsty about it. Sora wasted no time in knocking on the door.

"Coming!" A male voice called from behind the door. There were some footsteps before the door opened. Scott got a look at the two before the brown-haired, blue-eyed 21-year-old Chicagoan smiled. "Kamiya, you made it!" He said. "I was wondering when you'd get here."

"I wasn't going to be late," Tai replied. "And what the heck are you wearing?" The fair-skinned, but slightly-tanned midfielder looked confused at first before he noticed Tai was pointing to his apron that said "KISS THE COOK" over a black T-shirt.

"I'm making lunch and dinner," he replied.

"You are?" Sora asked. "Does this mean I made this for nothing?" She held up the food she made. Scott raised his eyebrow and shrugged.

"Well, actually, I don't see why we can't serve this anyway," Scott said. "Anyway, come on in! The gang's all here!" Tai and Sora stepped in the door. They weren't wearing coats, so they didn't need to hang them up. "Hey, Maggie!" Scott called. "Takenouchi brought some grub!"

"She did?" Maggie Gordon asked. She was a 21-year-old Glaswegian lady with brown hair, brown eyes and a slender build. She didn't look too bad, either. "How are ye, girl?" She asked Sora. "Happy Christmas!"

"Not bad," Sora said. "But I have no intention about talking about romance."

"Fair enough," said Maggie.

"So Scott, who's all here?" Tai asked.

"Well, Luke Chapman is here," he said, referring to one of Celtic's English midfielders. Chapman's red hair was shorter than Michaels' medium-length hair and his green eyes contrasted with Scott's blue.

"Good to see you," Chapman said as he greeted Tai.

"We've also got Gary Boyd," Scott said, pointing to the Scotsman. He had grown hair and brown eyes.

"How ye doin'?" He asked.

"Not bad," said Tai.

"And rounding out the gang, we've got Kevin McKenzie," he said, pointing to a brown-haired, green-haired man.

"Nice to see ye," McKenzie said. All three were around Scott and Tai's age of 21, save for Robinson, who was 24.

"So, we were just talking about what we got today," Scott said as he sat down. "What did you get?"

"I got some new boots and shin guards," Tai replied. Being the footballer he is, the football-related items went first.

"Not bad," Scott said. "Nike or Adidas?"

"I got one Adidas pair and one Nike pair," Tai said.

"Going for variety, huh?" Chapman asked. It was then Scott threw his head back, remembering something.

"Oh, that reminds me," he said. "You want something? I got beer and soda pop in the fridge."

"Beer?" Tai asked. "What do you have?"

"Oh, I've got Carling, Budweiser, MGD, Miller Lite and Tennent's," Scott replied. "If you don't want that, there's some Coke and Irn Bru."

"Irn Bru?" Tai asked. "What's that?"

"It's only the best damn soft drink in thae world!" Kevin McKenzie said. Tai looked at him confused.

"Scottish pop," Scott replied.

"I think I'll have Miller Lite," Tai replied.

"Good choice," Scott said as he got up to get Tai a beer.

"Ah yes, go with the American crap," said Chapman. Scott shook his head in annoyance as he left the TV area to go into the kitchen, which was separated from the TV room by a counter. Scott took a couple of beers from the refrigerator and brought Tai's Miller Lite over to him while he had a Miller Genuine Draft in his hands.

"Thanks," Tai said.

"No problem," Scott replied.

"So what were you all talking about?" Tai asked.

"Boyd, McKenzie and Chapman were about to talk about their youth clubs," Scott said. "And we were going to talk about Saturday."

"I've done some checking on Kris Boyd," Tai said. "He's a goal poacher, so he camps out in the penalty box waiting for the ball and then he strikes. I also know a few things about Davis Motomiya."

"Motomiya?" Scott asked. "Well, then let's hear it!"

"He's primarily a defensive midfielder," Tai replied. "But when he's ready, he's a good offensive midfielder, too."

"How did ye knae aboot 'im?" Boyd asked.

"He was my teammate at Kashima Antlers," Tai replied. "He was only on the team for one year, but I got a good look at him when we played."

"Nice," Scott said. "Mike Jefferson is like you Kamiya. He tends to rely on speed and agility to outrun any defenders."

"By the way Scott, what's with the ridiculous apron?" Tai asked.

"Didn't I already explain?" Scott asked indignantly. "I made the food myself."

"Scott!" Maggie called from the kitchen. Chapman's and Boyd's dates were also in the kitchen along with Sora. "Isn't it time fer more glaze?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Scott said, getting up from his seat. He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl. Something was sticking out of it and Scott took it over to the sliding glass door. "Gentlemen, if you could please follow me," he said. "And put something warm on." Scott, Boyd and Chapman put jackets on while McKenzie and Tai came without anything. They would regret it. Scott opened the door and stepped into the Scottish air. Instantly, Tai was hit with a blast of cold air as the trio stepped out. When they got onto the patio, they noticed something on the deck.

"What is that?" Tai asked. The object was black and cylindrical shaped and stood on four posts.

"This," Scott said, "Is your Christmas dinner." He grabbed a handle and lifted up the cover. The cover revealed a grill and several pieces of meat cooking on the grill.

"What are those?" Tai asked.

"Baby back ribs," Scott replied as he took a bit of barbeque sauce on his brush and brushed it on the ribs. "We're havin' barbeque for dinner."

"What!" Chapman asked. "Are you daft?"

"No, my family just has different Christmas traditions," Scott replied. "Besides, my dad sent these to me for a special occasion, so I might as well use 'em."

"That's nice, but can we please get back inside?" Tai asked. "I'm freezing!"

"Oh, sorry about that," Scott said. He closed the lid of the grill and ushered the other players inside before closing the door. As Scott returned the barbeque sauce to the counter, Tai got a look at Scott's wall. It was covered with various awards and pictures of Scott's and even some old shirts. One was green, one was white with the word 'GATORS' scrawled across it. One was the familiar U.S. Soccer jersey and of course, a Bronze Medal. Tai shook his head. He just had to flaunt that, did he? There was one picture of a man with his arms spread out like wings and holding a basketball in one hand. Tai suspected who it was, but he could not come up with an answer. "That's Michael Jordan," Scott said, startling Tai. "Sorry about that."

"Michael Jordan?" Tai asked. "Why him?"

"Well for one thing, I'm from Chicago," Scott replied. "And he's practically a _god _in Chicago. Besides, he's a huge influence on Jimmy and I."

"How?" Chapman asked.

"Well, his determination and drive to win inspired us," Scott said. "By the way Kamiya, who influenced you?"

"Ronaldo," Tai replied. "The guy had mad skills."

"Is 'e talkin' aboot the Brazilian?" McKenzie asked.

"Duh!" Tai shot back. "Well, him and Maradona. The Goal of the Century is my favorite goal of all time. They guy could just take any play and make it magnificent."

"Maradona, huh?" Scott asked. "Well, I guess he influenced me, as well."

"For me it was David Beckham," Chapman replied. "The man's a great player and he's from the East End."

"East End?" Tai asked, as he was very confused.

"It's in London!" Chapman replied in an indignant manner. "Except I'm from Fulham, to I guess that's ridiculous." He shrugged.

"My favorite player was Henrick Larsson," said McKenzie. "He had magnificent footwork and he had a knack fer scorin's goals."

"Edwin van der Saar," said Boyd. "He's a great 'keeper."

"Figures," Scott said as he sat down on his seat. "So you want to know what those photos are of, Kamiya?"

"Why not?" Tai asked.

"The one on the far left is my high school team after we won the IHSA state championship," said Scott. "The name was the New Trier Trevians, if you want to know."

"What about the second one?" Chapman asked.

"The second one is my Florida Gators team when we won the College Cup last year," he said. "Even though that was my third year."

"Did you even graduate from university?" Chapman asked.

"Yep," Scott replied. The other guys looked at him with shocked faces. "What? It's not unheard of for someone to graduate in three years!"

"It is for us!" Tai said.

"I went to summer school and took a lot of classes; 18 hours per semester," Scott replied. "Does that explain it for you?"

"I guess so," said Tai. "I really should go to college, now that I can think of it. Maybe I'll apply to the University of Glasgow."

"That'd be a good idea," Scott replied.

"I didn't really get a chance when I was playing with Kashima," Tai said. "I guess now I might have a chance."

"You probably should," Scott said.

"When I was with Fulham, I took some university classes," Chapman said. "I should probably finish as well."

"I have some pretty crazy stories about one 'event' in college," Scott said. "My teammates and I were in California to play UCLA. We were staying at a hotel not to far from the campus so that night, one of my teammates decided to pull a prank on the UCLA team…"

We're going to cut away from the guys for now to focus on the ladies. They were mostly in the kitchen, but only one was making food, and that was Maggie. Sora did not, since she had already made some shrimp. Scott's snacks included some tiny roll-up wieners and chocolate chip cookies/biscuits. Sora was having one of them as she talked with Maggie. "I really need a job," she said. "I have a work permit from the Home Office, but I haven't been able to find anything yet."

"I could try and get ye a job with the club," Maggie replied. Although it was never mentioned before, Maggie is an employee for Celtic. That's how she's able to get great seats for the matches. "Would tha' help?"

"Probably," Sora said. "You're a good friend, Maggie."

"Nae problem," Maggie replied. "Sae, what'd ye get?"

"My friend Mimi got me some shoes and make-up," Sora replied. Maggie gave her a look. "I think she got them at Rodeo Drive."

"Rodeo Drive?" Maggie asked. "What's she doin' in LA?"

"She goes to college at UCLA," Sora replied.

"Oh, that makes sense," Maggie replied.

"I also got a kimono from my mom," she said. "But it was green with a Celtic crest sewn into the fabric."

"Oh?" Maggie asked. "Is that sae?"

"Yep," Sora said as she grabbed a little roll-up wiener. She took a bite of the little hot dog to see what it was like. It didn't taste too bad. She then took a bite of some Ritz crackers that Scott had put out.

"Wha' else have ye tried?" Boyd's date, named Nora asked. She had straight brown hair, contrasted with Maggie's wavy hair.

"I tried to submit a design to some design company," Maggie said. "But they rejected my design."

"Och, tha's tae bad," Nora said. "If ye ask me though, fashion design shouldnae be your future. Ye should try something else."

"Like what?" Sora asked. "I guess I should take Maggie's offer and work with the club. But then again, I'm reluctant to do so."

"Well, if ya really want tae do this fashion thing, maybe ye should give it another try," Maggie said, getting more cookies/biscuits out of the oven. In the background, the guys could be heard laughing about some joke Scott made.

"I do have something," Sora said as she grabbed something from the table. She opened up the folder and took out several drawings. She took one and handed it to Maggie. "What do you think of this?" She asked. Maggie got a look at the drawing. The drawing showed a man wearing a football kit. It was apparently a football kit, and it looked like a Celtic kit. But the thing was, it had different coloring. The hoops were yellow and black, and the shorts were black as well. The socks were black and yellow.

"That looks good!" Maggie said. "Where'd ye get this?"

"I saw an image of an old Celtic away kit," Sora said. "I think it was called the 'bumblebee' kit or something like that, so I decided to design a kit like that."

"I like it!" Maggie said. "It looks like a real Celtic kit!" She handed the drawing to Nora and Chapman's date, Mary. The two got a look at it and they came away very impressed.

"That is good!" Nora said.

"It looks like a good football kit," the English lady said.

"You think so?" Sora asked. She was starting to get encouraged by their praise.

"I think we should show this tae the players," said Maggie. "Scott!" Scott heard Maggie calling him and he came over to the counter.

"So anyway, we were in Hawaii when-what is it?" He asked. Maggie handed the kit design to him.

"Have a look at this," Maggie said. Scott got a look at the kit and showed a face of interest.

"I like it!" He said. "I think I'll show this to the guys." He walked over to the players and showed Sora's design of the kit. All of them, Tai included, reacted to the kit positively. Tai even said that he loved the kit. But that's when he remembered the papers."

"Sora, is this what you've been working on?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, I love it!" Tai replied. 'I want to play in it!"

"Why don't ye submit it tae the club?" Maggie asked. "They might like it."

"You know, maybe I will," Sora said. "Who knows, it might work out."

"Well, what if ye don't find anything?" Maggie asked. "What are ye gonnae do?"

"Well, I might be a little rusty," Sora said. "But does Celtic have a women's team?"

"Aye," Maggie replied.

"Then I might try out for them," Sora said.

"Tha' sounds good," Maggie said. "I guess ye might have a chance."

"The problem is, I've been playing tennis for the past several years," Sora said. "I used to play football, but I dropped that for tennis. I still don't know why."

"HA!" Maggie said. "Aye, I played football as well. That's why they hired me as a scout. I would play fer the ladies' team but my work won't let me."

"That's too bad," Sora said.

"Hey Sora!" Scott called from his chair. At the same time, Tai got up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Sora asked him.

"Restroom," Tai replied.

"Oh," Sora said. "Okay." Then she remembered that Scott had called for her attention. "Yes Scott?"

"Kamiya was telling me you had a boyfriend," he said. Sora sighed in annoyance. "Did you break up with him?"

"Yeah, I did," Sora said.

"Why?" Scott asked. "Did he cheat on you or anything?"

"No, he didn't," Sora said. "Really, we just grew apart. He had his band, and I had my own things to do. I don't hate him or anything; it's just that it didn't work out in the end. So, since I wanted to broaden my horizons, I got a work permit from the Home Office and stayed with Tai."

"Oh, I see," Scott said. "So the flame just burned out, huh?"

"Yeah," Sora said. But she didn't know that Tai was listening to their conversation.

"So that's why she stayed!" He said to himself. He really had no idea why Sora had stayed with him and not gone back to Japan, but now he knew. Of course, he had to wonder why she wouldn't tell him and she told a practical stranger. But he left the hallway and returned to the party with Sora none the wiser. His beer was finished, so he went back to the fridge to get another beer, this time a Carling. He might as well have a drink of the sponsor. "So Scott," he said. "How'd you get your work permit?"

"Well, in order to play, I had to have dual citizenship," Scott said. "Since I already had dual citizenship in the Republic of Ireland, I was in the clear."

"Really, I don't know why the SFA has that silly rule," Chapman said, referring to an SFA rule that foreign-born players had to hold a European passport in order to play. "It's just ridiculous."

"I agree," Scott said. "Speaking of which, I've been appealing the club, the SPL, the SFA and UEFA."

"To do what?" Chapman asked. "You didn't do anything wrong!"

"To change my number!" He replied. "I want to change in to #23."

"Number 23?" Tai asked. "Why?" Scott didn't answer; well, at least not verbally. Instead, he pointed at his picture of Michael Jordan. Tai instantly got the point. "Oh," he said. "By the way, did you get anything from US Soccer about your national team eligibility?"

"What?" Boyd asked. He was unsure of what Tai was talking about.

"I got suspended from the US national team after I got into that fight with Kamiya," Chapman groaned and put his head in his hands. He knew exactly what Scott was talking about; it was his question that started the whole ruckus. "Well, I got great news," he said. He held up a piece of paper with the US Soccer crest on it. "I got the letter from US Soccer president Sunil Gulati today. I have officially been reinstated into US Soccer!"

"Alright!" Tai said, giving Scott a high-five. "Will you be selected to the qualifying team?"

"Hopefully!" Scott replied. "I hope Coach Bradley will select me for the friendly against Sweden or the first qualifying match against Mexico."

"The FA told me I might be selected for one England's group matches," Luke said, referring to England's UEFA World Cup qualifying.

"Good luck with that," Scott said, somewhat uninterested. Chapman made an indignant face at Scott's snub. Tai stifled his laughter. Then he remembered something.

"Oh, by the way," he said. "Kari's coming to Glasgow. She's coming to see the Rangers match."

"I'll get her some tickets," Maggie said. "Two for her and her boyfriend."

"Thanks Maggie," Tai said. "By the way," he turned to Scott. "What about your brother, Jimmy? What's he up to?"

"His team is playing in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl," Scott said. "They're playing I think the Kentcuky Wildcats."

"Wait, 'Bowl'?" Boyd asked. 'What does yer brother, play anyway?"

"American football," Tai replied. The other players groaned in response.

"He's a quarterback," Scott said. "He plays for the University of Central Florida Knights and—HEY! What are you groaning about?"

"Why is he playing a sissy game like that?" Chapman asked. Scott replied by giving Chapman the dirtiest look imaginable."

"Say that to Jimmy, I dare you," Tai said. Scott laughed in response.

"It's true," Scott said. "He said, 'if football players are pussies then why do soccer players roll around on the ground if they get hit'?" Chapman and McKenzie rolled their eyes while Tai, Boyd and Scott laughed.

"Is that really what Jimmy said?" Tai asked. "Because I remember you said something else."

"Well that's what the gist was," Scott said. "So how do you guys like the party?"

"It's good," Boyd said.

"Not bad, huh?" Scott asked. "Especially for an atheist!" Boyd and McKenzie suddenly began staring at him and Tai just looked at him. "What?"

"You're an atheist?" Boyd asked.

"Can we not get into this?" Tai asked. "I don't fucking care!"

"Exactly!" Scott said. "Look, you know what the phrase in the collar says? It says 'it's not the creed nor nationality that counts. It's the man himself. You know what that means?"

"Aye," said Boyd. "Sorry."

"We play for Celtic F.C.," Tai said. "The motto of Celtic Park is 'a place where a man is judged by his football alone'. I've done my research, okay? I know the club was formed by Irish Catholics and it's still part of the culture, but we're an inclusive club!"

"Damn, Kamiya," Scott said. "You're good at this."

"Yeah, we're not like those Rangers bastards," Tai said. Scott stifled a laugh at Tai's surprising statement. Even Sora was surprised. "You know, if they want to wave those Union flags, why don't they play in England?" Scott, Kevin and Boyd were doubled over in laughter while Chapman shook his head at the four of them.

"I think you've been affected by playing here," Scott said.

"I know," Tai replied. "I think I'm an Irish Republican. I'm not even Irish!" Scott again snickered at Tai. Tai just shook his head, though. "I just don't understand loyali—I gotta stop, my mouth is running away from me!"

"You bet your ass," Scott replied.

[][][]

About three hours later, the ribs were done. The footballers and the ladies were seated at a table Scott had set up in the dining room. "Here it comes," Scott said as he brought the ribs into the dining room, laying it on the table. "Baby back ribs for Christmas," Scott said. "Is there no better combo?"

"I can probably think of some," Tai said as he grabbed a rack.

"I'd rather have Christmas pudding," Chapman said as he tried to cut his ribs.

"I don't know how to make that," Scott replied. Chapman shrugged in response. "I know how to make things like cookies and brownies, but not Christmas pudding."

"Whatever," Tai said. "I'll just enjoy myself, thank you very much."

"Good call," said Scott.

"Wait till my mom hears that I had barbeque ribs for Christmas dinner," said Sora.

"Same here," said Maggie. "My ma will be amazed! 'Ribs? What are ye, some kind of American redneck?'" Scott burst into laughter at Maggie's crack.

"Nah, I didn't learn that in Texas," Scott said. "I learned it from my dad."

"He knows that stuff?" Tai asked after taking a bite of his ribs.

"Yep," Scott replied. "He's a cool guy." Just then—

RING! RING! Scott groaned. It was his landline phone. He was not happy about having his dinner being interrupted. He answered the phone while Maggie decided to tell Tai something.

"I got tickets for the first row at Ibrox," she said. "Yer sister will love them."

"Are they close to the pitch?" Tai asked.

"Sort of," Maggie replied.

"JIMMY!" Scott said in the background. It must have been his brother on the line. "Wait, you want to be put on speaker? Okay, hold on." Scott pressed a button on the phone and hung up the receiver before walking back into the room. "Okay Jimmy, I want you to say hi to everyone!"

"Scottie, I'm not a little kid!" The voice of Scott's little brother shouted in the background. Maggie and Sora giggled.

"Why'd you put him on speaker?" Nora asked.

"He asked to be put on speaker," Scott replied. "So what's up in Northfield?"

"Not much," Jimmy's voice replied. "Mom and dad got your gifts though."

"Did they like 'em?" Scott asked.

"Well, mom loved hers," Jimmy replied.

"Is this really necessary?" Tai whispered to Sora.

"Would you do the same for Kari?" Sora asked.

"Point taken," Tai said. "So Jimmy, I've heard about you." The phone went silent.

"Who the fuck are you?" The voice asked. Scott snickered. Obviously he knew Jimmy, so this was unsurprising. Sora and Tai, however, were not pleased.

"That's not polite!" Tai said.

"Who do you think you are, my mom?" Jimmy's voice asked from the phone. Scott shrugged at Tai.

"I'm Tai Kamiya," Tai replied. "I'm friends with Scott."

"Oh, that's nice," Jimmy's voice replied. "I'll bet you're one of those pussy-ass soccer players, aren't you?"

"Don't direct it at Kamiya," Scott replied. "Focus it on Luke Chapman and Kevin McKenzie. Hell, Chapman called football a pussy sport."

"WHAT!" Jimmy's voice bellowed. "Well, he should be talking! Why is my game a sissy sport when soccer players roll on the ground for ten minutes after getting hit?"

"I guess that's the real quote," said Tai.

"He needs to learn some manners," Chapman said.

"By the way Kamiya, are you Japanese?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, why is that?" Tai asked.

"Coach O' Leary's trying to recruit some guy from Japan," Jimmy said. "I think his name is 'Sohma' or something like that."

"Hello Jimmy," Maggie said. "I'm Maggie, I'm the girl Scott has probably told ye about."

"Oh yeah, Maggie," Jimmy's voice said. "My mom knows about you. I think she likes you."

"Oh, thanks, Jimmy," Maggie said.

"I gotta go," Jimmy said. "Mom wants me to eat breakfast."

"Okay Jimmy," Scott said. "See ya!"

"See ya!" Jimmy hung up on the other and Scott hung up as well. Scott eventually rejoined the table.

"Was that really necessary?" Chapman asked.

"Probably not," Scott replied. "But it felt nice to talk to him again."

"Wait till you meet my sister," Tai said.

"It should be nice," Scott said, going back to his ribs. For the rest of the hour, things went nice. The footballers and the girls had a pleasant talk (sort of) and things went well. Jimmy's cameo didn't have much effect on the rest of the evening, anyway.

[][][]

After dinner and Jimmy's cameo, the footballers and the girls sat down in the TV room for some more socializing. Scott was telling the girls about the story he was telling to the other teammates while Tai continued talking with the other players. "We had some pretty crazy times in South Korea," Tai said, telling a story. "We were in our hotel when we heard this knock on our door. We went to the door and there was some smoke bomb in front of our door. Well, it wasn't an exploded smoke bomb, so it wasn't bad. The next morning, when we were leaving, the doorman asked if we had a good night. Want to know what our answer was?"

"What was it?" Chapman asked.

"It was a bomb," Tai said. Chapman and Boyd broke out laughing, as did the girls. But they were laughing at Scott's story.

"Scott," said Maggie. "I think it's time we opened presents."

"Oh, that's right!" Scott said. He leaped off the chair he was sitting on and went over to the tree in the corner of the room. "I got presents for you guys," he said. "McKenzie; Chapman; Takenouchi; [Nora] MacGregor; [Mary] Smith; Kamiya, here you guys go."

"Thanks Scott," Sora said. "We also got something for you and Maggie."

"Really?" Scott asked. "Where are they?"

"Over here," Sora said as she grabbed the two packages. The other footballers had already opened their gifts and were looking them over.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Chapman asked.

"No swearing!" Scott replied.

"What is this, anyway?" He asked. It looked like a shirt.

"Couldn't really think of anything for you," Scott said. "So I just got you a Chicago shirt."

"Scott, what is this?" Sora asked, holding up a flag.

"It's an _Erin go bragh _flag," Scott said. "I want you to wave it on Saturday."

"Really?" Sora asked. "Are you just giving us joke gifts, though?"

"No," Scott replied. "I got you a Celtic CD."

"Oh," Sora said, holding it up. "I do like this."

"I like the shirt," Tai said, holding up a red jersey with a Native American head on it. "I think."

"That's a Chicago Blackhawks jersey," Scott said. "They're an ice hockey team. Also, IO gave you a DVD; That 70's Show."

"Oh," Tai said. "Open my gift, will you?"

"Hold on!" Scott said as he was opening Tai's present. He got a look inside and rolled his eyes. He held up a shirt that said 'I'm with stupid' pointing upwards. Sora rolled her eyes and facepalmed while Scott shook his head. "I take it someone's still not happy about losing."

"Couldn't you have given him something else?" Sora asked, handing her present to Scott he opened his and was impressed by it.

"It's a movie," Scott said. "Godzilla?"

"I thought it would be a good idea," Sora said.

"It's not bad," Scott replied. Maggie held up her gift. She seemed to be kind of confused by it.

"Wha' is this?" She asked.

"It's a _yukata_," Sora said. "My mom made it."

"Oh, I should thank her," Maggie said. "Send her my thanks."

"You're already welcome," Sora said.

"Well then, now that everything's taken care of, let's put some music on," Scott said. He walked over to the iPod sitting on the little stand and put a song on. The song began and the whole group could tell what song it was as they sang along.

"_Hail! Hail! The Celts are here!_

_What the hell do we care? _

_What the hell do we care?_

_Hail! Hail! The Celts are here!_

_What the hell do we care now?_

_It's a grand old team to play for_

_And it's a grand old team to see_

_And if you know its history_

_It's enough to make your heart go sad_

_God bless them_

_We don't care whether we win, lose or draw_

_What the hell do we care?_

_Because we only know that there's going to be a show_

_And the Glasgow Celtic will be there!"_

[][][]

The next day, Tai and Sora went to Glasgow's Buchanan Hotel where Kari and TK were staying. Naturally, once Kari saw Tai in the hotel lobby she ran right up to him and gave him a big bear hug. "Tai, how are you?" She asked.

"It's nice to see you too, Kari," he replied. "TK," she said glaring daggers at him. TK just smiled back.

"You don't have to do that," he said.

"Sorry TK," Sora said. "He's just the overprotective type, you know that."

"But he knows me," TK replied. "He doesn't have to be like that."

"Sorry TK," Kari said. "Oh by the way, we have your presents."

"Oh thanks Kari," Tai said. "When do we open them?"

"When we get to your apartment," Kari replied. "By the way, do you have tickets for the game on Saturday?"

"A friend of Tai's teammate works for the club as a scout so she was able to secure tickets to the match on Saturday," said Sora.

"Oh wow," said Kari. "I should thank her!"

"She'll be coming to the match as well," Sora said.

"Sounds good," Kari said. "I can't wait to see Davis's face when he sees me cheering against him!" Kari's comment was more light-hearted, but Tai's next comments were anything but. And he said this with an incredibly dark look.

"He's going to regret joining Rangers," Tai said. "I'm going to make him pay."

"Wow, Tai's really upset," Kari said. She was getting kind of scared of Tai's face. "He's acting like David broke u—"

"Don't." Sora said. "It's just that the Old Firm rivalry is so big that Tai was upset that Davis is playing for Rangers."

"Wow," Kari said. "This rivalry must be big."

"You have no idea," Sora said. "You have _no _idea."

[][][]

End chapter

Man, this thing is finally done! I had been working on _this one chapter for half a year_. I really had meant to get it in sometime, but I never did. Well, up next is the big match; the Old Firm, Celtic and Rangers; Tai vs. Davis; Scott vs. Mike. It's gonna be big!


	11. The Old Firm, Part 1

**Author's note**: First off, I want to give a shout-out to TaioraWarrior, Drake-El, CherrygirlUK19, Squit Aymin, rmiller92, LightingUpTheeSky for their reviews (Not dbzgtfan2004; you suck). Second, only 7 reviews? Come on, I know you like this! Can I please have some more reviews? Anyway, enough dawdling. LET'S GET IT ON!

December 27, 2008

Derby day; around the world, those words invoke images of wonder. This is the time when an entire city stops and watches their two football teams battle it out. Great rivalries like Boca Juniors and River Plate in Buenos Aires; Inter and AC Milan; the London rivals, Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea, West Ham; Madrid: Real vs. Atletico; Liverpool and Everton; Manchester United and City; Pumas and Club America in Mexico City; Los Angeles, the Galaxy and Chivas USA; AS Roma and Lazio in Rome; Juventus and Turin; FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol; Shamrock Rovers and Bohemians in Dublin; Hearts and Hibernian in Edinburgh; even baseball, the Chicago White Sox and Cubs; these matches capture their city's imagination and turns the city into a battlefield. But in Glasgow, there is one derby that in the minds of the city, towers over all of these: the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers.

Dating back to 1888, this rivalry has torn the city of Glasgow in two; Rangers, backed by the Presbyterian establishment of Glasgow and Scotland and loyalists, and Celtic, supported by Irish Catholics and Irish Republicans. This rivalry transcends the sport in good and bad ways. It is not just a rivalry, but a religious and political war. Rangers supporters wave the British Union Jack and sing pro-British songs. Celtic fans wave the Irish tricolor and the flag of the Four Provinces and sing Irish rebel songs. Because of this the city had been plagued with sectarian troubles for years. But to the players on the field, that does not matter. All that matters is the match at hand. To them, the three points that come with the win are the goal.

Today, we will start by focusing on Maggie Gordon and Sora Takenouchi. Sora prepared in her and Tai's apartment. Due to the 1:30 start time, Tai had gotten up fairly early, probably around 6:00 in the morning. After a hearty breakfast that included some seaweed (he still wasn't able to get used to it) Tai got into his Celtic training jacket and pants and got ready to leave for Celtic Park. The team was going to take the team bus to Ibrox, that's the reason he was going to Parkhead. "What time do you think you'll be at the match?" Tai asked.

"I think around 10:30 or 11:00," Sora replied. "We're meeting Kari and TK at their hotel before going to the match."

"Okay then," Tai said. "Be careful, okay? This rivalry's volatile."

"We will," she replied. "Maggie and I are planning to hide our colors until we get to the stadium."

"That sounds good," Tai said.

Maggie meanwhile did not prepare with Scott—he was preparing on his own. Instead, she made the flag pole to wave a flag that Scott had given her for Christmas and he wanted her to wave it for him. Getting into the stadium was the hard part; hell, not just that, but keeping it hidden until she got to the stadium. There was a knock on the door and Maggie told the person to come in. Scott came in, wearing his training gear and carrying a kit bag. "What's up?" He asked as he closed the door.

"Workin' on this pole," she said in return. "I'm not sure how I'm going to get it into the stadium."

"That stinks," Scott replied. "I already had breakfast and I have to get to Parkhead soon. I can't stay because Kamiya and Chapman are going to show up soon." Sure enough, there was a knock on the door of Maggie's apartment.

"Michaels, let's go!" Luke Chapman called from the other end.

"One minute," Scott replied. It was then that Maggie leaned in and gave the stunned American a kiss on the cheek.

"Good luck," she said. Scott smiled, picking up his kit bag before leaving.

Tai left the apartment a few minutes later. "Wish me luck," he said.

"Do you even need it?" Sora asked. Tai laughed in response.

"I guess you're right," he said. "I'll see you later."

"See you," Sora called. Tai rushed to the elevator and pressed the down button. About two floors down, Chapman and Scott entered the elevator.

"You ready?" Scott asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," Tai replied.

"Good for you," Chapman responded.

[][][]

In the hours before kick-off, Sora Takenouchi and Maggie Gordon waited in the lobby for Tai Kamiya's younger sister Kari and her boyfriend T.K. Takaishi. Neither of them wore Celtic colors, since they really had no intention of getting into any trouble until they got to Rangers' Ibrox Stadium. Maggie did have a yellow flag under her arm (it was folded up) and Sora carried a green flag, also folded. The lobby was buzzing, and whether it had anything to do with the match today. The plan was to take the Glasgow Subway to Ibrox. The amount of traffic getting to the match would have been too much.

The match started at 1:30 local time, so they were there at around 10:30 AM. They had called to Kari and TK's room a while ago and the two were just getting ready, so it would only be a few more minutes. Finally, a girl around the age of 18 with shoulder-length brown hair showed up with a boy about her age with blond hair. Sora smiled at the two. "Kari! TK!" She called. Kari and her boyfriend noticed Sora calling and waving to them and walked over to Sora.

"Hey, Sora!" She said. "Did you like your presents?"

"Tai loved his," Sora replied. "I liked the sweater you gave me."

"Well that's nice," Kari said. She looked at Maggie and she seemed confused. "Who's she?"

"Oh, her?" Sora said. "This is Maggie Gordon. She's a friend of one of Tai's teammates."

"Oh, hello," Kari said to Maggie, extending her hand to her.

"Nice tae meet ya," Maggie replied.

"Oh, you're Scottish?" Kari asked.

"Aye," Maggie replied. "And who's he?"

"I'm TK," he replied. "I'm her boyfriend and one of Tai's friends."

"Nice tae meet ya too," Maggie replied. "Well, our seats are in the Celtic supporters' section in the west stand of Ibrox," Maggie said. "I got us first-row tickets!"

"Really?" Kari asked. "So how are we getting there?"

"We're takin' the Buchanan Street Station on the Glasgow Subway," Maggie said. "Our stop is at the Ibrox Station."

"Okay," said Kari. "Well then, let's get going!"

[][][]

The main entrance to the Buchanan Street Station had two low bollards with a glass roof over the elevators. A low approach wall led south on each side of the entrance. The quartet of Maggie, Sora, Kari and TK went up a slope into the area at the top of the escalators and central steps. The quartet got their tickets, which had a magnetic stripe on it. With their tickets purchased, the quartet went to the main platform.

The inner circle of the station was served by and island platform lying west of that for outer, which was against the wall of the station. A glass barrier ran across the east edge of the inner circle platform. There seemed to be some football fans here, but they weren't quite sure. Soon, the orange-colored train arrived at the station. The train was headed for Ibrox, so this one was the one they wanted.

"Is this like the Tokyo subway?" Maggie asked Kari once they got on the train.

"No," Kari replied. "The Tokyo subway is much more complex."

"Okay," said Maggie. "Sorry I have tae make small talk."

"It's okay," said Kari. They mostly stayed silent, not wanting to get into any trouble with Rangers supporters. Kari pointed to her green-and-white scarf in her purse while TK didn't wear any Celtic colors. Kari did yawn on occasion, as if she was still dealing with the effects of jet lag. She really should have slept that jet lag off.

Finally, they reached the Ibrox station. As they got off the train, they saw place swarmed with the blue, white and red of Rangers FC. Clearly this was no place to wear green.

They came up on the west side of Copland Road. This being a match day, the place was again swarmed by Rangers supporters. Every which way they could see the British Union Jack and the Red Hand of Ulster. People wearing blue were everywhere. Just how they were going to get to the west stand of the stadium was another story. They felt like foreigners; Sora, TK and Kari were obviously foreigners, but that's not the point. They felt like foreigners because these were clearly _not _friendly fans. Any wrong move and they could be in big trouble.

There was a huge Strathclyde police presence in full force today. Maggie had to go up to a police officer just to get instructions to get to the west stand. The officer pointed in the west direction and the quartet managed to get to the west stand, where the Celtic supporters were gathering. Finally, they were among a friendly crowd.

Now among the Celtic contingent, Maggie and Sora took out their Celtic scarves and put them on. Maggie then handed the tickets to Kari, Sora and TK. "Keep this with ye," she said. Due to the mass of Celtic fans, it would take a while for them to enter the stadium, but eventually, the managed to enter the stadium through the famous blue gates.

Their seats, once again, were in the first row of the stand just to the left of the goal (from their perspective). They had a good view of the pitch and could see the players beginning their warm-ups. They settled down in their seats as Sora and Maggie got a pair of poles for their flags. With Kari and TK's Help, they attached their flags to the poles. The flag Sora was to wave was a green flag with a gold harp on it over the words "_Erin go bragh_." Maggie's flag was yellow with a coiled snake on it over the words "Don't tread on me".

"Why are you waving that?" Kari asked.

"It's the Gadsden flag, as Scott told me," Maggie said. "He said that supporters of US Soccer wave it and he wants me tae wave it."

"Oh, I see," said Sora. Unlike Celtic Park, Ibrox's seats were blue and there were a pair of video screens. Supposedly this was a UEFA Five-Star stadium, but to Kari, it didn't seem like it.

[][][]

Now we will not only skip ahead but shift our focus to the players. In the changing room of Ibrox, the Celtic players prepared mentally for the match. The players were not only preparing mentally, they were preparing physically. They were getting on their kits, getting ready to walk onto the pitch for warm-ups. Tai had some earbuds in, while Scott had full-blown headphones on. Scott laced up his Gator Nikes while Tai put on the Nike boots he got for Christmas.

A few minutes later, the players walked onto the pitch for warm-ups wearing their training jackets. The seats were not completely filled yet, but that didn't matter. They'd be filled by match time, anyhow. They started with their legs. They'd be running so much that they had to get those things first. Suddenly, they could hear the Rangers' supporters cheering. The Rangers must have come on the field. But they could not focus on that right now. Right now all that mattered was the match.

Tai did look over at the Rangers and saw Davis warming up with him. A feeling of anger swelled up inside him, but he killed it; you cannot play angry, especially in a heated rivalry like this. Luke noticed this, of course. "Kamiya, what's wrong?" He asked while stretching out his right leg.

"I'd rather not focus on that," Tai replied.

"Good point," said 'keeper Artur Boruc.

The stands continued to fill. In the west end, the green began to ill up while the rest of the stadium began to fill up with blue. The singing match had also begun. The Celtic contingent was already singing their songs. No doubt, Maggie, Sora, Kari and TK were singing some of those. As time progressed, the stands continued to fill up with supporters. A group of police officers were separating the Celtic contingent from the rest of the stadium.

With warm-ups done, the teams then moved to last-minute practice before leaving the pitch. Tai mainly kicked a few balls at the goal, which Artur Boruc stopped. Scott played on defense and offense for the practice.

Game time was rapidly approaching. The stands were almost filled with the green of Celtic and the blue of Rangers. The two teams left the pitch to the applause of both sets of fans. You'd wonder just how long that would last. Finally, both teams were of the pitch and headed for the changing rooms.

[][][]

In Scott Michaels's hometown of Northfield, Illinois, his brother Jimmy was woken up by his cell phone alarm. Jimmy was staying with their parents Bob and Bridget for Christmas and was leaving for Orlando later today. But he had a chance to watch his brother playing. He got up and walked over to his desk where his laptop sat and opened it. After logging onto the internet, he went to Celtic's streaming for subscription sit, Channel 67. He clicked on the game that he wanted and waited as the stream popped up. "Nice," he said. "Come on, Scottie!"

[][][]

In the Celtic changing room, the players changed out of their training jackets and shirts and put on their regular, green-and-white hoped shirts. They sat around, anticipating when they would take the field. In the eyes of each of these athletes burned the competitive fire that burned within all athletes; a fire that burned like brighter than a thousand suns.

Any athlete who says they are not anxious before a big game or race or event is probably lying. Sure, there are athletes who are so used to being in big games or events that they treat it just like any other. But there is a time, usually early in their career that they are anxious. It can either be nervousness or excitement. It probably depends on who you talk to. This is the feeling inside Scott and Tai. Neither of them had been in a match like this before.

Sure, they had been in rivalry matches before. Tai had to deal with this against JEF Chiba United and Scott against the Evanston Wildkits or the Miami Hurricanes. But neither had been in anything like _this_. This is one of the biggest rivalries in football; a rivalry that has split an entire city in two with its just purely divisive political and religious undertones. But those undertones didn't matter to them. All that mattered was the match at hand.

Gordon Strachan entered the changing room. The players directed their gazes at him as he prepared his pre-match speech. "Three points," he said. "Three points, which is our goal for today. It has nothing to do with what ye think; it has nothing tae do with the politics, or the religion. All this is is just one match of many. Yes, this is our big rival. But that's why this is important. I don't want ye tae think aboot provin' which politics is better. No, that's fer the fans. Our goal is to put that ball in the net and win this match. Don't get wrapped up, just do your duty; play your game and in the end, you cannot lose.

"Don't let up; they will overrun ye. Don't let them push ye; instead, push back. Play hard and play your best. If ye don't, ye won't be celebratin'. But again, remember: three points. That's our goal. And if ye ferget, then what the fuck are ye doin' playin' football? Because all that matters at the end of the day is those three points and that's it! One pont is not good enough and a loss is unacceptable, especially against them! I want ye tae play yer best football and think about those three points and do what you can tae get that win! We hit them and we hit them hard! Dae not let up and do not let them push ye, got that? Now get out there!" The Celtic players clapped in response and stood up to leave the changing room.

As they left the changing room, they met up with the Rangers starting XI. The Rangers wore their traditional blue shirts, white shorts and black socks with a red top. Of course, there were the small details. The Rangers top was anatomically cut, with curvy lines separating the torso and arms. The curvy lines were also on the sides as well. The shirt also had a white collar. The black socks had a red band in the middle with the Umbro logo on it. Rangers' traditional crest, an interlocking 'RFC' in a scroll-font was on the right breast. The Carling logo adorned the chest. Their numbers were white. Celtic wore their regular kits; it was tradition to wear these colors against Rangers.

Scott looked to his right. Davis was standing right next to him. Tai's former protégé looked a bit like him—save for the hair, of course. He also noticed that Davis was wearing long-sleeved shirt and it was un-tucked. It was just a minor detail. Scott of course wore his short sleeves and gloves. Davis gave him a glance before looking away again. In the back, Tai glanced at the man next to him, Rangers' top scorer Kris Boyd. Mike Jefferson, Scott's protégé was in front of Boyd. Tai wore long sleeves, unlike Scott. Then, the players began walking out of the players' tunnel. Outside, the atmosphere was at a critical level; this is not a bad thing, of course. But this was no ordinary away match. Old Trafford was a home match compared to this.

They were in the belly of the beast.

The Celtic fans were fully gathered, and they were waving their flags. Maggie waved the Gadsden Flag Scott had given to her. A few fans had asked her what she was waving it for and she replied that Scott had given it to her. Sora also waved the _Erin go bragh _flag that Scott had given her. Kari and TK did not have flags to wave, much to their disappointment. One fan was waving an Irish tricolor and another waved a flag of the Four Provinces. The crowd noise was growing.

The song playing on the PA was the song "Simply the Best" by Tina Turner. The Rangers supporters were clapping and singing along as best they could. Even though it was almost 1:30, it seemed like late afternoon, probably due to how late in the year it was. It was cold, but probably in the low 30s. There was anticipation, as the teams were about ready to take the pitch. Over at the entrance tunnel, several employees were waving red and blue flags.

The teams entered the tunnel and began to come out. They could hear the music playing, and the crowd noise growing louder. Then when they exited the tunnel, the referees led them. Now this is how Scottish football differs from English football or the Champions League: instead of walking out and lining up on the pitch, the players jogged or sprinted onto the field. And this is what happened. As soon as the players left the tunnel, each team split off and ran out onto their respective sides. At this point, the crowd roared in response. Scott and Tai got a burst of adrenaline when they heard this.

In the Celtic end, the fans also roared in response. Confetti rained down on crowd as they came out onto the pitch. The song playing then hit the chorus as the Rangers fans (and some Celtic fans) sang along:

_"You're simply the best!  
__Better than all the rest  
__Better than anyone  
__Anyone I've ever met!"_

At the same time, after Artur Boruc blessed himself, the Celtic starting XI gathered and according to tradition, got into their huddle. The Celtic fans cheered loudly, Maggie, Sora, Kari and TK included. In the huddle, Captain Stephen McManus addressed the team. "Don't listen tae the Rangers' fans! Just focus on the match, got it? We can win this! 1-2-3!"

"_Celtic!_" The team broke the huddle and took their positions. The song had changed, this time to a techno version of the Rangers' anthem "Follow Follow".

_Though the streets be broad and narrow  
__As follow we will  
__Follow we will  
__Though the streets be broad and narrow  
__As follow we will  
__We will follow in the footsteps of our team_

_Follow, follow we will follow Rangers  
__Everywhere anywhere  
__We will follow on  
__Follow, follow, we will follow Rangers  
__If they go to Dublin we will follow on_

The starting XI for each team looked like this:

Rangers staring XI (4-4-2):

GK 1 Alan McGregor; DF 3 David Weir; DF 5 Sasa Papac; DF 28 Steven Whitaker; DF 21 Kirk Broadfoot; MF 6 Barry Ferguson (C); MF 4 Pedro Mendez; MF 10 Davis Motomiya; MF 35 Steven Davis; FW 11 Mike Jefferson; FW 9 Kris Boyd

Celtic Starting XI (4-4-2):

GK 1 Artur Boruc; DF 2 Andreas Hinkel; DF 4 Stephen McManus (C); DF 6 Gary Caldwell; DF 3 Lee Naylor; MF 14 Luke Chapman; MF 19 Barry Robson; MF 5 Scott Michaels; MF 8 Scott Brown; FW 16 Tai Kamiya; FW 7 Scott McDonald

As they got into their positions, Scott and Tai got a look at Davis and Mike. Celtic defended the west end while Rangers defended the east stand. The music somehow began to get quieter, and time slowed down like many a clichéd scene in sports movies. Since Tai was going to kick off, he got a look at Davis. Davis was glaring at both Scott and Tai. Tai focused his glare on Davis. He thought it looked like the posture Hayden Christensen was in before the big fight with Obi-Wan in _Star Wars III_. Scott got a good look at Davis and he saw the anger in his eyes. Scott also glared at Davis, narrowing his eyes. Scott got a look at Mike. He too, was glaring at Scott and Tai. Tai ignored Mike and focused on the kick-off.

Tai nodded at the referee and the referee blew his whistle. He nudged the ball to Scott McDonald who kicked it back to Stephen McManus who in turn kicked the deep into the Rangers' end. Behind them, the Celtic supporters could be heard chanting, "(x, x, x-x-x-x) _CEL-TIC!_ (x, x, x-x-x-x), _CEL-TIC!_ (x, x, x-x-x-x) _CEL-TIC!_" Tai caught the ball on his chest once he got to the Rangers' end. He was defended by Rangers captain Barry Ferguson, a wily veteran. Tai displayed some Brazilian style footwork to try and trick Ferguson.

With a quick spin move, Tai sneaked past Ferguson, moving into the penalty box. He looked to the other side of the pitch to see Scott tangled up with Pedro Mendez. Scott McDonald looked open and waiting for a pass to sneak past McGregor. It was only the first minute of the match, but Tai could see that Celtic already had a golden opportunity to score. Tai drove forward, preparing to pass to McDonald.

But then, he felt himself trip up and fall to the ground hands first. He felt dazed instead of acting hurt. He was more surprised than anything. But he looked behind him to see who had tripped him up and noticed Davis shrugging as if to say, 'too bad.' Tai's face contorted in anger. Alan McGregor had already grabbed the ball so there was nothing he could really do about it. But he was going to get Davis for this as he left the Rangers' zone for the Celtic.

McGregor kicked the ball into Celtic territory. Celtic 'keeper Artur Boruc ordered the Celtic defense to organize and they did just that. In this part of the field, Scott was tangled up with Mike instead of Mendes. Scott was getting physical with Mike, trying to make sure the American forward wouldn't get anywhere near the ball. The ball indeed came to them, and Scott headed the ball to Luke Chapman, who took it on his chest and took it back into the Rangers half of the field being defended against Sasa Papac.

The Rangers defense regrouped and prevented Luke from getting any further, so he scooted the ball over to Scott Brown. Brown then sent the ball over to Scott Michaels on the near side by the sideline. Scott took off down the sideline, trying to get past the Rangers defenders, eventually coming across Davis when he stopped. For Scott, this was familiar; he had come up against Davis in the Bronze Medal match earlier in the year. A quick look to the penalty box, however, showed Scott that Tai was deep in the box, tangling with Barry Ferguson. So instead of trying to get past Davis, Scott gave the ball a hefty kick, sending it into the penalty box, a waiting Tai.

Tai watched the ball sail to him, and he got in position to try and head the ball in. He leapt up and prepared to do so, only to find Rangers 'keeper Alan McGregor leap in to catch the ball, causing Tai to fall to the ground. He slapped himself mentally before getting up and trotting back into Celtic territory while McGregor cleared the ball. Tai shook his head.

Back in the Celtic zone, Scott and Davis jumped up to try and head the ball to either the Rangers zone or towards the Celtic net. Scott got there first, heading the ball to the half-way circle. Too bad the ball was picked up by Pedro Mendes. But the Celtic defense would not break, and instead clamped down on Rangers, forcing them into a passing game for about 2 minutes. Stephen McManus pointed and yelled out commands to the players, leading the defense like a great general.

At the ten-minute mark, Scott and Davis got tangled up, waiting for Barry Ferguson to pass to their general direction. Their field position was close to the penalty box, so it was a tactical battle, as well. If Davis got the ball, he could drive to the net and score the opening salvo. If Scott got the ball, he could help lead Celtic into the Rangers' end and quite possibly score as well. Ferguson, of course, could see that it was a fool's errand to pass to Davis, especially since Ferguson was at the midfield circle. Instead, Ferguson tried to pass to Steven Davis. Ferguson scooted the ball over to S. Davis, thinking it would be an easy pass.

Instead, Tai came out of nowhere and intercepted the ball. Instantly, the Rangers defense was thrown into disarray as Tai broke towards the Rangers' zone. Behind him, the Celtic fans began yelling and cheering in encouragement, while the Rangers supporters were screaming for him to be stopped. It didn't matter though, because Tai was too fast for them, anyway. In less than a second, he was within striking distance of the goal. Ranger 'keeper Alan McGregor was screaming for any kind of backup, but it wasn't coming. Tai was still behind the linesman, so he was onside. Soon, he got past the closest Rangers' defender. Since he was behind the ball, he was not offsides. Now it was time to fire it home.

"_Kamiya, on the break, here's the kick…_"

Tai fired from just outside the penalty arc, thinking that it was a perfect shot. It was indeed on target for the goal, and McGregor was leaning to his left side to try and stop the ball. The thousands inside Ibrox Park held their breaths, some in hope for a goal, others just hoping McGregor could stop the ball. Soon, the ball was close enough, and Tai jumped up and down in anticipation of a goal. McGregor stretched, reaching out his arms and…

…Caught the ball.

A collective groan swept through the stadium, about ¼ of that groan in disappointment, while the ¾ in blue groaned/sighed in relief as McGregor tucked the ball into his chest and landed on the field. Tai threw his head back and groaned himself. He had thought it would be a goal, but McGregor had reacted at the right time and did what a good goalkeeper is supposed to do. Tai could only shake his head as he trotted back into the Celtic zone.

For the next twenty minutes, the pace of the match slowed down. No team was really able to get any chances on goal, only a few errant shots that were nowhere near the goal. There were throw-ins, but nothing of importance. Most of the forward progress was to the penalty box, and that was it. The defense would send it back into the opposing zone, usually to be picked up by the goalkeeper.

Most of the action took place around midfield. The two rivals' passing games were the most tested aspects of each team's game. That's how it was; just a pair of teams passing the ball around for about 20 minutes.

Then Celtic broke out.

Luke was able to get a pass of to Scott. He was confronted by Davis, who came running up to him. Scott juked to the right, then left. He was trying to throw Davis off. Then, with a move reminiscent of legendary Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers, Scott extended his left leg out and broke away from Davis, leaving the Japanese midfielder in his dust. Scott broke away and passed to Tai on the far side.

Tai took the ball up the left side of the field while Scott went down the middle. Tai had no clear shot at McGregor, making this particular play identical to the goal Scott scored to beat Manchester United. And again, Tai passed to Scott. But this time, Scott had time to shoot and he sprinted towards McGregor to fire just inside the penalty arc. McGregor lunged for the ball, but he had no chance as the ball flew right past him into the upper-left corner of the net.

The Celtic contingent instantly went berserk. "_Scott Michaels scores his first Old Firm goal!_" Scott ran over to the goal line in front of the Copland Stand. The Rangers' supporters were giving him a few rude gestures and words, but he ate it up, raising his arms in the air in triumph, then doing the Gator Chomp. Then, he gave a bow, drawing even more jeers. When he got up, he gave the Rangers supporters a double bird—no, he didn't do that. He just mouthed the words 'don't tread of me' before Tai and some other teammates piled on top of him.

The Broomloan stand was about as close to a mosh pit as you could get with all the seats. Supporters were jumping all over the place like at an American high school football game. The noise coming from the Celtic supporters was pretty much the loudest sound in the stadium. Maggie practically tackled Sora. The Japanese woman wasn't exactly pleased about it. "Maggie, take it easy, will you?" She shouted over the crowd noise. But the Scottish woman didn't hear her, since she was so caught up in the moment.

Things settled down again and Rangers kicked off. Celtic had the all-important lead in the 31st minute of play and Rangers was in dire need of an equalizer. Things again settled down and most of the action was again concentrated around midfield involving each team's passing games.

Then Rangers struck back.

In the 45th minute, with 2 minutes of added time, Rangers had the ball in the Celtic zone. Davis took the ball up to the left side where Scott ran up to confront him. The American bent down like an American football linebacker to try and defend Davis. Davis looked for a way past Scott, but the American was intent on defending him. Instead, he scooted the ball over to Mike. Mike took the ball up the near side while Scott and Davis tangled in the middle. The American forward tried to take it past Andreas Hinkel, but couldn't get past the German defender.

That's when he noticed Davis was in good position for a goal.

Jefferson sent a cross into the penalty box to Davis, who was still being covered by Scott. The two tangled as the ball came to Davis. Davis caught the ball on his right foot. Scott nudged the ball with his foot to try and steal the ball.

Then, he felt his spikes catch in the turf.

Scott tumbled to the ground while Davis finished the play, firing a shot past Artur Boruc. A loud roar swept through the blue-clad fans of Ibrox.

"_And Rangers have equalized! Davis Motomiya scores his first Old Firm goal, as well!_" Daivs ran over to the goal line of the Broomloan stand. Naturally, the Celtic fans were also jeering him, but he was looking for Kari. He spotted her in the front row and pointed to her before waving and raising his fists in the air. However, she crossed her arms and turned to the side. Davis's face sank in disappointment.

Scott, meanwhile, slammed his fists on the turf in anger. His Gator boots were trusty, how did this happen? It shouldn't have happened! Then he got a look at the bottom and his face sank as well.

One of the spikes had gone loose.

"FUCK!" Usually, Scott doesn't swear, but in this situation, he had to. Tai came up to him and helped him up off the ground.

"Sorry," he said.

"Shouldn't have happened," Scott replied. His face showed disappointment as he and Tai walked back to their respective positions.

Celtic kicked-off again and the play went slowly, with Rangers getting more aggressive. However, it wouldn't last much longer as the referee checked his watch and blew his whistle, signifying the end of the first half.

The Celtic contingent was mostly disappointed, but applauded in appreciation of their team, while the Rangers supporters gave them a standing ovation.

"Tha's nae the way it should have ended," Maggie said, shaking her head.

"We should have been able to keep that lead," said Sora. "We'll have to buckle down in the second half."

"It's been a tough one so far," said TK. "But we should get better."

But the first half was only the first skirmish. The second would be a full-blown battle.

_To be continued..._


	12. The Old Firm, Part 2

Tai sighed as he leaned against the wall in the Celtic locker room. Most of the other players were also relaxing. His legs burned from all that running he did earlier. He was still thinking about that first-half near-goal that Alan McGregor caught. However, he buried it pretty quickly. If he got distracted by that one play, he wouldn't be able to regroup. He still had 45 minutes to make an impact on the game, either through defense or offense. Davis wouldn't stand a chance to stop him.

Coach Strachan was drawing some plays on the whiteboard, showing the players the game plan for the second half. The plan called for them to get more aggressive against the Rangers defense. Easier said than done, obviously. But the players listened to their coach and took mental notes about the game plan.

Scott, meanwhile, was working with Neil Lennon on his Gator boots. The spike that had gotten loose was stubborn and wouldn't get repaired. The boots were only 2 years old, which is what was confusing him. They shouldn't be falling apart like this, especially since he always kept them in good condition. The problem was, he wasn't sure if Strachan knew that his spikes had messed up on him.

"Michaels!" He called out. "Why did you stumble against Motomiya?"

"Sorry coach," he replied. "One of the spikes on my boot got loose and got caught in the turf."

"I don't want any excuses Michaels," Strachan replied.

"It's not an excuse, coach," Scott replied. "It's an explanation. If my spike hadn't failed, I would have stopped him. Besides, Coach Lennon can vouch for me."

"He's right," the former Celtic great said as he turned to Strachan. "The spike somehow got loose." Strachan nodded in understanding.

"Coach Strachan?" Luke asked. "How are we going to get more aggressive? They have as strong midfield and defense."

"You idiot!" Tai shouted back. "Their midfield and defense isn't a brick wall, it's a block of Swiss cheese! We've already gotten off three attacks on them that penetrated the defense!"

"Exactly!" Strachan exclaimed.

"That midfield and defense are strong though," Scott replied. "Those attacks we got off were because of severe lapses. Of course, I'm not entirely sure how those lapses happened."

"Are you saying those attacks were flukes?" Tai asked, his voice showing anger at Scott.

"No, that's not what I meant," he replied. "I'm saying we need to expose those lapses and use them to our advantage. It's simple strategy, but it's always effective."

"The only reason it's 'simple' is because that's only the, as Americans say, 'gist' of the situation," said Strachan. "What I want to try is to spread things out more." He drew some marks on the white board. "… Keep most of the Rangers defenders near the sideline. Then we make our own gaps in the defense and attack. Do any of you think you can do it?"

"I don't think so," Tai said. At first the other players looked at him as if he was crazy. Then he spoke again. "I know I can do it."

[][][]

TK let out an annoyed sigh as he waited in line for concessions. With the police determined to keep the Celtic and Rangers supporters separate, he couldn't exactly go to another part of Ibrox to get some food. At first he thought the UCF stadium wouldn't be so bad, but then he heard about how Scott's little brother had turned that team into a contender for… what was it called again? BCS? Anyway, Scott's little brother made that team good. And from what he heard, he was about his age.

Back to his current situation, he was getting frustrated until he _finally _got up to the counter. "How can I help ye?" The clerk asked.

"Four pies and four Cokes," he replied. The cashier rang up the price and TK sighed in exasperation. Prices at football matches were _way _too expensive, even just for concessions. He paid for his food, took the items and went back to the seats just in time for both teams to come back out for the second half. The Celtic contingent stood up again while he got to his seats. "You should be thankful I did this for you," he said to Kari.

"How so?" She asked.

"The line was too long and don't even ask me how much this stuff cost," he replied.

"Things are going to get worse when ye get married," Maggie replied.

Back on the pitch, the two teams got into position. Rangers would kick off this time, attacking the Copland Stand. The referee blew his whistle and Jefferson nudged the ball to Kris Boyd. Boyd kicked the ball back to Barry Ferguson. Rangers went on the attack, forcing Celtic into their own zone. Artur Boruc shouted out to the outfield players on which part of the field they were to go.

Tai was on defense, moving over to Mike Jefferson who had the ball. It didn't last long as Jefferson passed the ball up the side to Kris Boyd at the far sideline. He was double-teamed by Scott Michaels and Barry Robson. Boyd just scooted the ball back to Steven Davis who took it up the far sideline, sneaking past Scott. Scott took off in hot pursuit. Luke, meanwhile, came up to the far sideline to intercept Davis.

Davis scooted the ball to Davis Motomiya in response. Rangers had gotten close to the penalty box and Davis was right outside the penalty arc. Suddenly, he felt himself trip up and fall to the ground. Scott had sprinted over to the spot and slid in for the tackle on Davis. Scott thought it was clean.

_TWEEET!_ But the referee didn't. The official came over and called the foul on Scott. While ¾ of the stadium cheered, the Celtic contingent unleashed a Bronx cheer at the referee. This even applied to Scott, as he had his hands up and a look of shock on his face. "What the fuck, ref!" He shouted. "That was a clean hit!"

"Free kick; Rangers!" The referee said, ignoring him. The American was not happy and got up to set up the wall.

Only two minutes in and Rangers already had the free kick. Davis set up right outside the penalty arc while several Celtic players set up a wall. Boruc shouted to his midfielders, telling them where to go while two defenders, Andreas Hinkel and Gary Caldwell, set up near the net. Tai set up in the wall, too. Not much else to do.

The two teams were set up and Davis signaled to the referee he was ready. While the Celtic fans made as much noise as they could behind him, he focused on the goal. The referee blew his whistle and Davis sent the ball at the goal.

The wall leaped into the air to try and stop the ball, but it flew over their heads and cut right to the goal. Artur Boruc watched the ball closely, waiting to act. The ball, however, was way off to his left and he had to lunge to the right and the ball deflected off of his left hand. It was enough to change the ball's trajectory to the left and away from the goal. Now it was the Celtic contingent's turn to let out a sigh of relief, but it wouldn't last as the line judge awarded a corner kick to Rangers.

Davis again took the kick while Celtic and Rangers get ready for the set piece. Two Celtic defenders, Andreas Hinkel and Gary Caldwell, set up in the goal. The official blew his whistle and Davis sent the ball into the Celtic penalty area. Both teams rushed for the goal, trying to get the ball first. However, Boruc caught the ball. Celtic had dodged a bullet.

Boruc dropkicked the ball into the Rangers zone. The ball bounced off of Scott McDonald's foot and over to Kirk Broadfoot. However, Tai came back in and kicked the ball away from Broadfoot. The ball sailed over to the far side of the pitch where Luke took a shot right on McGregor that was blocked by the Rangers 'keeper and sailed over the crossbar. The referee whistled and awarded a corner kick to Celtic.

Robson was to take the corner kick while Celtic and Rangers set up for the set piece. Tai and Davis tangled again, pushing each other as Robson sent the ball into the penalty box. The two leapt for the ball and Davis got his head to it first and headed the ball out, right to Mike Jefferson. He had a clear path to the Celtic zone and took off, Scott in hot pursuit.

Scott caught up to Mike just in time as the two got to the Celtic penalty zone. Their feet tangled and they fell down face first onto the pitch. However, thanks to Scott's actions the ball simply trickled to Artur Boruc and, no Hand of Clod here, Artur just scooped the ball up. Scott didn't need to do much and Boruc sent a mighty kick back into the Rangers zone.

The match settled down for several minutes. Most of the action took place around midfield and neither team was able to get a got shot on goal.

That changed in the final seconds of minute 56 and into minute 57. Celtic had the ball and passing around midfield. The ball went to Tai and he passed back to Stephen McManus in the Celtic zone. He sent a lob into the Rangers zone to Nakamura. He headed it Scott McDonald who was tangled with Kirk Broadfoot on the edge of the penalty area and shook him off to send a screamer right into the net.

The Celtic contingent went ballistic again while Skippy celebrated on the pitch. The other Celtic players grabbed onto him. A few Rangers supporters gave him the Finger.

Rangers kicked off and went back to passing the ball around midfield. The ball changed hands on occasion but the game would get more intense as the seconds passed by, turning into an Old Firm match of old.

Celtic got control of the ball. They attacked immediately; spreading out their offense and making Rangers play man-to-man. Tai had the ball against Broadfoot, trying to get past him. Broadfoot wouldn't let him get past. Tai tried to use his footwork to trick Broadfoot. He spun, never keeping his foot off the ball. He was just like Ronaldo. Unfortunately, he couldn't get past Broadfoot. Instead, he passed backwards to Chapman.

Chapman passed up to Robson on the far side of the pitch. He passed to Scott, who passed back to Gary Caldwell. He sent it deep in to the Rangers zone where Tai and McDonald were waiting. But neither of them was able to get their hands on it and Alan McGregor was able to pick it up and throw it into the Celtic zone.

Mike Jefferson was waiting there. The Celtic defense rushed to catch Jefferson and he rushed the Celtic net. The fans stood on their feet as the American forward rushed the net. He fired—

BORUC MADE THE SAVE!

The ball deflected off of Brouc's hands and landed out of bounds. The Celtic fans breathed a huge sigh of relief. The Rangers supporters groaned.

However, Rangers would get the corner kick. So now Celtic still had to clear the ball. Davis would take the kick. The clock showed 62 minutes. The two teams scrambled for position in the penalty box while Davis set up for the kick. He raised his hand, the referee blew his whistle and Davis sent the ball into the penalty box. The players scrambled for the ball. It flew in, almost slowly. Mark Wilson (who came in as a sub for Hinkel) and Gary Caldwell were set up in the goal. The ball bounced off the heads of several players, the Celtic players trying to head the ball out of the penalty box and the Rangers trying to direct it on goal.

Scott jumped for the ball while Mike tried to jump too. The ball bounced off both their heads. It flew around erratically, probably because of the wind. It bounced off the ground and Kirk Broadfoot got his foot on it. He sent it towards the goal. The Celtic defense regrouped, hoping to stop the ball. It bounced off of Chapman's head and it bounced into the Rangers' end of the field. Barry Ferguson just kicked it back to McGregor. He passed it to Davis.

Things got much more heated as the game went on. Several minutes later, Scott and Mike were tangled up with each other near midfield. Scott was grabbing onto Mike's shirt so much if this was the NFL, he'd be flagged for a Holding penalty. Scott, the brown-haired Irish/Frenchman and Mike, the blond, so-called WASP, fought for the ball; two Americans, one rivalry. It's not tragic folks, it's professional sports. Scott got his foot on the ball and scooted to Tai.

Tai took the ball past midfield and ran into Davis. Just like Scott and Tai, two friends fighting on the opposite side of a massive rivalry. If this is annoying you, then it will stop. Tai juked right and left. Davis didn't move an inch and watched Tai's footwork. Emulating the Brazilians wasn't good enough. Suddenly Tai broke for the goal, moved his feet and… passed to Luke Chapman.

The Englishman caught between two rivals burst up the field, weaving past the Rangers defenders. He fired on goal, but McGregor made the save and threw the ball to midfield where Pedro Mendez was waiting. The Portuguese midfielder took it up the field while the Celtic defense regrouped and swarmed him. However, he sent a long pass to the goal where Kris Boyd was doing his job as a goalpoacher. Boruc never had a chance as Boyd headed the ball in at the 67th minute mark.

Sora watched with her hands on her head while the Rangers supporters went ballistic and Maggie rubbed her face in frustration. Kari shook her head and TK banged on the little barrier in front of them.

The frustrated Celts walked back to their positions shaking their heads. Tai kicked the turf in frustration while Scott shook his head. The Rangers got done celebrating and ran back to their positions. Davis mockingly waved at a fuming Tai and Mike elbowed Scott in the ribs.

That's when a sudden flurry of snow began. For Scott, it felt like those NFL films with the uber-dramatic music. He bent down and watched Tai kick off to re-start the match.

The match got more intense as the seconds passed on. With both teams fighting for the top of the table, it was only inevitable, along with the rivalry's infamous reputation. They fought hard. There was a skirmish every time the ball got to one player or another. It didn't help that the ground was tough to gain footing on. While it's called the "Beautiful Game", this was tough like a rugby or American football match. It's only fitting you read while listening to NFL music. It was like an old Bears—Packers game. And Celtic were the Bears, of course (packers suck!).

The match reached the 70th minute. This was when things got really tough. A scrappy game had evolved and both teams fought hard. Even the Englishman Luke Chapman couldn't quite find his way through the Rangers defense while trying to get to the goal. A quick glance at the clock showed it was the 74th minute (time flies here). He spun past Sasa Papac and fired on goal, but McGregor made the stop.

McGregor sent the ball into the Celtic zone. The ball bounced off of Scott's chest and he lobbed the ball the width of the field to Robson on the far side of the field. He then sent a long pass into the Rangers' zone while Scott and Davis got tangled up.

Scott and Davis chased after it, stiff-arming each other all the way. The ball hit the ground past midfield. It bounced while the two chased after it. It rolled to the boundary line and they got closer, the ball slowing down. They got their arms tangled in their stiff-arming. The ball rolled to a stop near the line and they ran faster.

Suddenly, their legs got tangled up and they fell to the ground, chest-first. Davis got untangled first and took the Mitre ball, breaking for the Celtic zone. Scott slammed his fist on the ground and got up to chase after Davis.

Davis thought he had a clear run to the goal. However, the confidence was shattered when he noticed Scott in hot pursuit. Instead of panicking, Davis kept forward while Scott raced for the ball. Eventually, Scott caught up. They fought for the ball, Scott getting his foot in between Davis's legs. Several others gathered around them. Scott got his foot on the ball, nudging it to Chapman.

Chapman was able to get it to Boruc and he cleared the ball into the Rangers zone. Tai caught the ball on his chest. Then he broke for the goal, Scott McDonald his wingman. The two ran for the goal, the Rangers defenders swarming to both. However, David Weir got to Tai first.

He tangled with him, their legs crossing and twisting. The veteran had the upper hand, pushing Tai to the ground. The bad pitch caused Tai to slip and fall to the turf. He growled in frustration. This match had not been going well for him at all.

Things were looking worse for Celtic as the minutes and seconds ticked by. With the Rangers defense stifling any opportunity, it was almost as if they were trying to just settle for the tie. Of course, the occasional break into Celtic territory told otherwise, that they wanted to win. Getting within a single point of Celtic was more tantalizing than settling for the draw.

The clock reached the 80th minute. The desperation was growing amongst the Celtic faithful and players. Celtic would try and attack, but would be stuffed by the Rangers defense. In one instance, Tai was on a virtual breakaway. He outran and out maneuvered the Rangers veteran defense. Then he tripped and fell to the ground. Davis had tackled him, a dirty play. Tai begged for the call, but the ref never blew his whistle and showed the yellow card. "What the hell, ref?" He said. Apparently the Celtic fans have a point that the referees favored Rangers.

"Ref, where's the fucking call?" Scott shouted. "That's two you missed! Are you blind as a bat or something? You're worse than NBA refs, you son of a bitch!" That got the ref to notice him and he pulled out a yellow card. A chorus of boos and Bronx cheers erupted from the Celtic supporters.

"That was terrible!" Maggie shouted. "Give the card to Davis, not Scott!"

"You suck, ref!" Sora shouted.

Strachan, however, shouted from the sideline. He was furious at his players for a lack of discipline.

After that unfortunate incident Celtic got increasingly aggressive. They spread out the field, focusing on their passing game. They wanted to stretch the Rangers defense thin. Of course, when Rangers did get the ball they'd sprint for the goal only to fail in their efforts. Meanwhile the Celtic supporters were getting more and more nervous as the clock ticked down.

The ball rolled over to Scott. He held for a second and passed to Chapman just beyond the midfield circle. Luke looked at the clock, reading 84 minutes. They needed to get moving and fast. He broke for the goal, much to Scott's unhappiness. That was terrible. Anyway, he broke for the goal. The Rangers swarmed to him and it looked as if they would stifle Celtic's opportunity again.

However, he passed to McDonald at the top of the penalty arc. Rangers were caught off guard and Skippy fired a shot on goal.

… Only for it to sail over the crossbar.

A collective groan swept through the Celtic faithful and a sigh of relief swept through the Rangers supporters. Strachan could be seen putting his hand over his face on the sideline. The snow continued to fall as McGregor punted the ball to midfield.

Rangers regained possession while the Celtic defense regrouped. The Rangers passed the ball around and Celtic held strong. Scott tangled with Mike again near the penalty arc. Caldwell directed his players as Rangers pressed. They passed the ball around just like Celtic and it looked like they'd be able to run out the clock as it reached 86 minutes.

However, Celtic had life.

Pedro Mendez rolled an errant pass to Davis. However, an unexpected hero intercepted the ball. Chapman ran in and kicked the ball away from Boyd, breaking for the Rangers end of the field. Immediately Celtic transitioned into attack mode and rushed the Rangers end of the field. Tai sprinted downfield on the far sideline, hoping to sneak past the Rangers defense. They certainly didn't notice him, alright.

Meanwhile, the Celtic midfielders took the ball up the middle of the field. The seconds continued to tick by. Eighty-seven minutes were now on the clock. The Celtic offense had to get moving NOW!

Scott took the ball up the near sideline. Strachan shouted to get the ball off. He passed to Robson at the middle of the pitch and he passed to Chapman. Meanwhile, Tai was still at the far sideline, waiting for his chance. Celtic pressed, looking for a hole in the Rangers defense.

Eventually, in the 89th minute, Scott, from the bottom of the midfield circle, passed to Tai. Davis scrambled to catch him but Tai turned on the jets and broke for the goal. The Celtic supporters watched in tense excitement. This might be it!

Davis caught up to Tai. He tried to get the ball from Tai, trying to work his magic. However, with the snow and already bad field condition, he slipped. Now Tai just had McGregor between him and the goal. And now there was no way McGregor was going to stop him as he flicked the ball on goal.

The whole stadium held its breath. The Celtic fans hoping for a goal and the Rangers supporters hoping McGregor stopped it. It would be the former who got their wish as the ball hit the upper-left corner of the back of the net.

The Celtic contingent went berserk. If this were the days of terracing, it would have looked like a mosh pit. But, instead the Broomloan Stand was going crazy. Tai ran over in front of the stand before Chapman pounced on his back and the other players did the same. He could see Sora and Kari going absolutely ballistic. He felt on top of the world at the moment. Scott had his moment, now this was his time to be the hero.

When they got off him, Tai pointed to Scott. He did so too and they both did a side-bump before returning to their position. "_Goal for number 16, Taichi Kamiya. Celtic 3, Rangers 2," _said the PA announcer.

Rangers kicked off and now they were the ones who were desperate. Down by a goal in the closing seconds—although the official gave them 3 minutes of added time—they had to get to work.

Tai immediately forgot about the goal and transitioned into a defensive mindset. Celtic buckled down and tried to stop Rangers on defense. The Rangers passed the ball around, looking for gaps in the Celtic defense. However, the Celts held fast. Their desperation only increased.

Davis passed to Mike over at the near sideline. He found himself against Scott. He bent down like a linebacker as if to challenge Mike. His body language said, "Give it your best shot, punk". Mike accepted the challenge and drove for the goal. Scott stayed with him, matching his every move. Mike skidded to a stop but Scott stayed with him. His Gator boots weren't going to break this time.

Mike snuck past Scott but his mentor stayed with him. He drove for the net, firing on goal. The stadium held its collective breath, this could be the equalizer!

But it dribbled harmlessly to the side.

The Rangers supporters groaned while a cheer erupted from the Celtic contingent. Celtic had victory within their grasp. All they had to do was hold on to the ball and wait for the official to blow his whistle.

Apparently he still wanted Rangers to win because it took him two whole minutes to blow the whistle. A frustrated Chapman held his foot on the ball while the referee dawdled with the whistle. The Celtic contingent booed said ref. "Hell-ooo!" Luke said.

"Just blow the whistle!" An exasperated Strachan shouted. Eventually the referee relented and blew his whistle, signifying the end of the match. The Celtic fans erupted in cheers while Scott held his arms up in the air and punched the wind in celebration.

Disappointed, Davis went looking for Tai. Although they're now rivals, there was no excuse not to be a good sport. He walked up to his old friend and mentor with an outstretched hand. At first, Tai was confused but he took his hand. "Good game," said Davis.

"You too man," said Tai. An honest smile was on his face. Davis happily shook his hand before moving on to Scott. He was also shaking hands with Mike.

Calm settled over the Ibrox battlefield. The Rangers supporters left their seats in disappointment. The Celtic fans stayed in the Broomloan Stand celebrating their win. Maggie waved the Gadsden Flag while Sora displayed the Erin Go Bragh banner and a few Tricolors waved in the crowd. The victorious Celts came over and waved to the crowd before heading back to the locker room. Now Celtic had a seven point lead over Rangers in the last days of the 2008 calendar year.

Tai sighed as he sat down in the changing room. Now that they had won he could finally relax. He untied his shoes and took them off before moving to his socks. When he got them off he felt refreshed. Gary Boyd was pinching his nose. They must have smelled bad.

"Great game boys, great game," Strachan said as he entered the changing room. "It was closer than I wanted it to be, but I'll take the result. In the end it doesn't matter, since we're seven points clear of Rangers!" The team erupted into a chorus of 'Hail Hail!' "Kamiya! Great finish earlier. Great speed and precision. Skippy! Great strike, like always. The rest of ye, I'd like to see more effort from ya, but we still got a great result. We still have practice this week, but none on New Year's Eve and Day. So, go ahead and relax, gentlemen!" he walked out to leave the team be.

"Hey Scott," Tai called out. "Do you have anything planned for New Year's?"

"No, why?" He asked.

"Well you hosted Christmas last time," said Tai. "Why don't you come over for New Year's?"

"Sounds good," said Scott. "Hey Chapman! Kamiya's hosting a New Year's party, why don't you come over?"

"I'll try," said Luke. "I was going to go back to London but my mum told me not to. She thinks I should stay so I don't miss a match."

"His mom must _love_ soccer," Scott muttered.

The Celtic fans exiting Ibrox to a full police escort were bent on rubbing their win in their rivals' faces. Chants of "_FUCK YOU RAN-GERS!_" could be heard coming from the crowd. They weren't coming from an exasperated Maggie and Sora though, but they were coming from TK and Kari, strangely enough.

"Will you two stop that?" Sora asked. "You're embarrassing us."

"Sorry," said Kari.

"Should we take the Underground or take a cab?" asked Maggie.

"I don't want to take the Underground again," said Sora. "Let's just get far away from here and find a cab."

"Ibrox isn't the best neighborhood for Celtic fans," said Maggie. "We should find one now. I'll do it myself." She dialed their number on her cell phone and waited.

"Calling for a cab," said TK. Get it?

"Not too far from here," said Maggie. They found their cab and got in.

Back at their condo, Sora collapsed on the couch and let out a sigh. She didn't have long to relax because Tai came in to her surprise. "I didn't expect you to get back so fast," she said.

"It wasn't too bad," he replied, dropping his bag in the entrance before grabbing some milk from the fridge. He had a big smile on his face. He was still beaming from the winning strike earlier. That's when Agumon ran over to him.

"Tai, that game was awesome!" He said. "That last goal was amazing!"

"Thanks Agu," he replied with a smile. "Sora, how'd you get back?"

"Taxi," she replied. He nodded his head in understanding.

"Did you have any trouble?"

"No," she replied. "The driver was a Hibs fan." Tai snorted in his milk.

"Where's Kari?"

"She's back at her hotel," she replied. "She's leaving on New Year's Day."

"That reminds me," said Tai. "I invited Scott over for New Year's."

"Shouldn't be a problem."

"What about Agumon and Biyomon?"

"That _is _a problem."

"It's okay," said Agumon. "We can just hide in the closet or bedroom."

"Can you keep yourselves entertained?" Tai asked.

"Have them watch a movie if they're going to hide in a bedroom," said Sora. "But keep it down."

"We will," said Biyomon. "We're used to hiding, so it won't matter."

"If only we could say that about our Digidestined days," said Tai.

Meanwhile, Maggie waited in Scott's apartment. He came in talking on his cell phone with someone. Said someone was his little brother Jimmy. "Yo, Maggie!" he said as he came in before going back to Jimmy. "How'd you like the goal, dude? … Nice. Oh, mom's calling for you? Okay, I'll let you go… see ya."

"He watched the match?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah," said Scott. "He watched it on Channel 67. By the way, do you have plans for New Year's?"

"No," she replied.

"Kamiya is having a New Year's party," he said. "We're invited."

"Oh, that sounds nice," said Maggie. "I guess I should make something for that."

"Sounds good," said Scott.

:-:-:-:-:

End chapter

Right, sorry this took me so long guys. I have other projects I'm working on and I've been kind of busy. But I couldn't leave the match hanging like that.

Also, check out "Stern Des Sudens". It's an alternate version of this story except it's set in Munich and Scott and Tai play for FC Bayern. Go, now, I'll wait.


	13. Auld Lang Syne

It's A Grand Old Team To Play For, chapter 13: Auld Lang Syne

:-:-:-:-:

New Year's approached rapidly. The city of Glasgow prepped for their annual Hogmanay party at George Square. Of course, our main characters will not be in George Square, but at Tai's high-rise condo. Because of the multicultural nature of the guests, it would be a combination of Scottish, English, Japanese and American traditions. In other words, it's just New Year's. Tai and Sora had to get the party material for everybody which included champagne and some food for the party. Sora went out to the grocery store to find some stuff.

We find her with Maggie in a Glaswegian supermarket. "Maggie, where's the champagne?"

"In the liquor section," said Maggie. No, duh. "I'm not sure where that is, though."

"I'll have to ask," said Sora. "Excuse me! Where's the liquor section?"

"Near the produce section," said the clerk.

"Thank you," Sora replied. The two left for the liquor section to find the champagne. Looking at the champagne, Sora had a hard time picking it. Should she take the Bollinger or the Dom Perignon? Well, Dom Perignon is the more high-class champagne. Bollinger looks like it's the more celebratory stuff. She's not really a champagne connoisseur, so she's not that good at picking the bubbly.

"Why can't ye just get some whiskey?" Maggie asked.

"Because you don't drink whiskey for New Year's," Sora replied.

"Point taken," said Maggie. "Personally, I'd go with the Bollinger."

"Yeah, that looks like a good idea," said Sora. "Can we have two bottles of the Bollinger?"

"Sure," said the clerk. A payment and a 'thank you' later, they were on their way. The rest of the shopping trip didn't take too long. And they couldn't ask Scott or Tai, since the two were at practice. Sora would talk to Tai more about his suggestions when he got back from practice.

:-:-:-:**It's A Grand Old Team**:-:-:-:

Speaking of the two, practice for Celtic was pretty chipper. After beating Rangers, the hard part was over for now. The club's Champions League date was over a month away and New Year's was just around the corner. Of course the feeling would be light-hearted. But Dundee United was waiting after New Year's. But it was a home match, so that wasn't too hard. Most of the practice was just standard light drills. It was mostly dribbling, ball-handling and shooting drills for the team.

"Hey! Over there!" Scott shouted, directing some of the players. He's already gained enough respect by now to be directing at least part of the midfield—when Scott Brown wasn't on the pitch, anyway. Anyway, the players ran to the spot he pointed to, swarming the other side's offense. Then Coach Strachan blew his whistle, much to the surprise of the players. This was pretty sudden!

"Alright, gather 'round!" He called. The team gathered around their coach and he addressed them. "Well, since it is the 30th, I suppose all of ye are itching to go. But, remember, we still have trainin' tomorrow, only a short session, though. So, I'll let ye all go."

The team broke the huddle and dispersed, heading home for the day.

:-:-:-:**Celtic Football Club**:-:-:-:

When Tai got back, he found he was the first one there. Usually Sora was the first one to get back. Oh, well, it didn't matter too much. He turned on the TV and started watching BBC Scotland. He was thinking about Sora, too. He was thinking about his feelings for her and why she stayed with him. She certainly didn't have any regrets about staying. Maybe it was time he told her… did he love her?

That wasn't an easy question to answer. Yeah, he'd had a crush on her a long time ago, but he wasn't sure about whether he'd been in love with her all these years. He'd certainly buried them after she hooked up with Matt. Hell, just her being here in Glasgow with him was making him feel weird. It was like he'd been hiding something for the 4 months he'd been in Scotland. Maybe he did love her. Was it romantic, was it platonic, he needed to figure that out for himself. If he had some help, he could figure that out.

Right on cure, Scott stepped in the apartment. "What's up?" he asked. For some reason, he was wearing a Manchester United jacket. Although, according to him, he'd wanted to play for Manchester United.

"Not much," said Tai. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Girls," he said. "Football."

"Really?" said Scott.

"There's this girl," said Tai. "I've known her most of my life. We've been good friends and I think I may… _like _her."

"What do you mean by 'like'?" Scott asked.

"You know, '_like_'," Tai repeated, with emphasis. Scott shrugged. "Anyway, I'm not sure if I like her in _that _way. Do I like her like a friend or do I like her as… _more _than a friend?"

"Are you talking about Takenouchi?"

"Yeah, how di—" He sat up and his eyes widened. Scott rolled his eyes around coyly. Tai's jaw dropped. He finally got the hint. "You knew all along?"

"Well, _DUH_!" Scott replied.

"You mean it was _that _obvious?" Tai shouted.

"You didn't notice it yourself?" Scott asked. "Ask your friend… what's her name?"

"Mimi."

"Ask her, she might say the same thing! Hell, even Maggie knew!"

"Oh, jeez!" Tai said, sinking back into the couch. "I'm bad at this, aren't I?"

"Very," said Scott. "So what are you going to do?"

"I need to think about this," he said while holding his head.

"Whatever," Scott said as he got up to leave. "Maggs is gonna be back soon, I need to get back to my apartment." Oh, wait, that means Sora's going to be back, too. He needed to get ready. "See ya!"

"See ya," said Tai. Just a few minutes after Scott left, Sora returned with the supplies for the New Year's Party.

"Hello," she said.

"What kind of champagne did you get?" he asked.

"Bollinger," she said. "It's two bottles, but I think it should be enough. I'm going to save it for around 11:50, just in case."

"Sounds good," said Tai. His questions about his feelings for her were starting to eat their way out. However, he wasn't sure exactly what his feelings were. Was he in love with her? Or was it just platonic? But first, he wanted to ask her something. He'd already asked it before, but it made sense for him to ask. "Why did you stay with me?"

She froze. He couldn't see her face but it seemed confused. Why would she be confused? Maybe she was wondering what to say? There seemed to be no reason for her silence. He half-expected her to just say 'for no reason'. This was different. "I… don't know," she said.

"You don't know?" he replied.

"I don't want to talk about this," she replied. She left the kitchen to his confusion. Why was she acting like this? This is the strangest she's acted since… well, this is the strangest she's ever acted.

Sora slammed the door of her room. _Why did he ask that?_ She thought. Her thoughts were spinning and she raked her hair. She walked over to the bed and collapsed on it. What was wrong with her? She thought she was done with men after Matt. He'd been a good boyfriend at the beginning, but that was at the beginning. He stopped calling her, stopped being around, just stopped being a good boyfriend. They'd drifted apart over those years. She wondered if she really was in love with him in the first place.

She'd stayed in Glasgow to find a new life; something on her own. She wanted to be a new woman. She'd only stayed with Tai because he happened to be playing for Celtic. She didn't stay because—

Oh, no. Oh, no!

She clamped her hand over her mouth. She couldn't! He was just a friend! A good friend, who—_get a hold of yourself!_ Okay, that's over. Anyway, Tai had been a friend for all those years, enough that… _No, no! I can't be! He's just a friend, a good friend who_—It hit her. She realized the reason she never really had anything with Matt. She loved him, yes, but she was never _in _love with him. _He _was just a friend.

She tried to remove the thought from her mind. She didn't want it to be this way! This was all so sudden, she had a headache. Why are these feelings popping up now? Why couldn't they have come earlier, or better yet, later? Or, even better, never? She didn't _want _these feelings. Tai is a friend!

_Keep telling yourself that_, a voice in her head said to her. No, it's not true! _Yes, it is. You know how you look at him. _Shut up! _Make me_. You're rude. _Either way, you can't deny it._ Is it trying to tell her she's a lesbian? _No, I'm not. You cannot deny your feelings any more. You love seeing him happy. He loves to see you happy. You care for him. It's not the lust you felt for Matt; this is genuine. _

She had to admit; the voice had a point. She was never in love with Matt because—

She clasped her hand over her mouth. She could only come to one conclusion;

She was in love with Taichi Kamiya.

:-:-:-:**It's A Grand Old Team**:-:-:-:

Tai watched while Kari and TK skated on the ice at the Glasgow Winterfest. Yeah, it's still open. This was the second time he'd been here. He just wanted to relax while Kari and TK played. They sure looked happy out there. They enjoyed each other's company, laughed, joked, held hands. They... were happy.

Tai, probably the most overprotective big brother in existence, could not help but smile at his little sister. She'd found someone that made her happy. And that made him happy for her. She's not a kid anymore; she's a woman. She's a woman who was going to Florida to go to college. Actually, he laughed. Who's going to take care of mom now that her kids are thousands of miles away? Well, there is the off-season. "Hey Tai!" She called out. She and TK had walked off the rink.

"You done?" He asked.

"We're done," she said. "Oh, T.K., can Tai and I have some time alone?" TK nodded and she pulled Tai away. When they were a good distance away, she finally spoke. "I saw you watching us. You were smiling."

"Yeah," he said sheepishly. "Kari, I'm real happy for you." Kari smiled warmly. "I guess I was just being too overprotective. You and TK always got along. You were meant for each other; the bearers of Hope and Light, after all. I guess there was no way around the fact you two were made for each other."

"Then there's another reason you didn't like him," said Kari. "Is it because—"

"Matt," said Tai. "I guess I was a little upset about it. My anger at Matt extended to TK. It shouldn't have. I tried to be like a big brother when Matt was around. I feel really guilty about it now. I was mad that…" he paused. "Forget it. I was wrong to extend my anger to him. Kari, I hope you two have a great future together. It's time I let you live your life. And I'm… proud of you." Kari's eyes were flowing with tears. A smile graced her face. And Tai smiled, too.

"Oh, Tai!" She said as she wrapped her arms around her neck. He hugged her back and they stood like that; brother and sister. "Thank you!"

"No problem," Tai said, holding her close. He didn't care if any Glaswegians were staring at them. A warm feeling overcame the two. They eventually broke off the hug. Tai chuckled and tussled her hair.

"So, what about Sora?" she asked. Tai froze. "Tai, I can see through you. When I decided to leave, I did it because I wanted you and Sora to—"

"Kari!" he interrupted.

"Tai, don't play dumb," she said. "I could see it six years ago. You were hurt Matt and Sora hooked up, that's why you buried yourself in soccer."

"I'm still not going to stop playing," he replied.

"I never asked you to," she said. "The point is, I want you to be happy, too. Tell Sora how you feel about her. I'll bet even Scott knows!"

"He does," Tai said grudgingly. Kari stifled her laughter.

"Wow, I didn't know it was that obvious!" said Kari. Tai glared at her, and she got the message. "You should still tell her. I don't want you to be miserable. You missed your chance before. Now, you have another chance. Don't let it slip away." Tai nodded.

"Okay," he said. "Come on, let's go find T.K."

A few minutes later they were back at the ice rink. Kari and TK hugged for a second before Kari whispered in T.K.'s ear. Tai understood the cue. "T.K.," he said. "Treat her well." T.K. smiled and nodded his head. "I guess I was being to overprotective of her. But, I was wrong. You're the right person for her. She's found a good man in you."

"Does that mean…" T.K. trailed off.

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" Tai asked. "Of course I approve!"

"Thanks, Tai!" T.K. said as he shook Tai's hand.

"Oh, and one more thing," said Tai. T.K. stopped to listen to Tai. "If you so much as harm her once, I'll sick Greymon on you." T.K. laughed nervously while Kari shook her head. Old habits die hard.

:-:-:-:**Celtic Football Club**:-:-:-:

The 30th came to an end and gave way to New Year's Eve. The Hogmanay party was starting to begin in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness, etc. The Scots were getting ready for one hell of a party tonight. The whole U.K. was getting ready too, but this is where the biggest celebrations would take place. In Scotland, Hogmanay has for years eclipsed Christmas in terms of significance. That has been changing in recent years, though.

In the Kamiya/Takenouchi condo, Tai and Sora worked to prepare their New Year's party. They put the champagne on ice, they put the beers in the fridge, set up the karaoke machine and cleaned the place up; all in a strange sort of sexual tension. They didn't even speak to each other, except for when they needed to.

Pretty soon, the sun was lowering in the sky and it was getting closer to midnight. The guests would be arriving soon and—

_Knock, knock, knock! _Speak of the devil!

Sora got up from the couch and walked over to the—"Quick, hide you two!" she said to Agumon and Biyomon. The Digimon rushed into one of the closets near the door. "Coming!" said Sora. She opened the door. "Oh, Scott, Maggie!" she said. "Come on in; you're early."

"Hey Takenouchi," said Scott.

"Hello," said Maggie.

"Um, why are you wearing your jackets?" Sora asked.

"We had to go somewhere," said Scott. "We had to rush over here. Do you mind if I hang my jacket up?"

"Sure, go ahead," said Tai. "Just—hey, why are you putting it in that one?" Tai asked. Sora only now recognized the problem.

"Why, what's the big deal?" Scott asked, opening the closet door. "It's not like—" He looked in the closet and he froze. Tai and Sora looked at each other. They were too late to stop him. Scott's eyes widened in complete shock. He stared at two strange-looking creatures; Agumon and Biyomon. And they were just as shocked as him.

"Um, hi," said Agumon. "Can I take your coat?"

"_YAAAAAAAHHHHH!_"

"_Too late_," said Tai and Sora.

"What the hell are those things?" Scott said after he fell on his ass and pointed at the closet in utter shock.

"We're not things," said Agumon.

"We're Digimon!" said Biyomon.

"Digimon?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, don't you know about them?" Tai asked.

"Tai and I are DigiDestined," said Sora. "Agumon and Biyomon are our partners. Didn't you have a Digimon?"

"No," said Scott.

"Neither did I," said Maggie.

"In fact, I never believed in them," Scott said, getting up. "I always thought they were fictional."

"Well, they're real," said Sora. "Do you need some explaining?"

"Sure," said Scott. "I have no idea what is going on, anyway."

"… So how did you beat MaloMyotismon?" Scott asked, after Tai and Sora had told their story. Even Maggie was listening intently.

"We used the world we were in to our advantage," said Tai. "We had everyone wish for peace in the world and that their Digimon could defeat MaloMyotismon. They all attacked at the same time and he was obliterated."

"Damn," said Maggie. "And ye think yer wish helped?"

"It weakened him," said Sora. "I know it sounds hypocritical, but it was necessary. But, we're not sure if it actually worked, what with all the wars and killings that have taken place since then."

"Right," said Scott. "It's a tough wish."

"So how come you never had a Digimon?" Tai asked.

"Hel-LO!" Scott replied. "Time difference! Judging by what you're telling me, I was most likely asleep!"

"You gotta be kidding me!" Tai said, his face showing utter bewilderment.

"Oh, that's right," said Sora. "Chicago is 14 hours behind Japan. "Now it makes sense, of course he'd be asleep."

"But what about Maggie?" Tai asked. "Why doesn't she have Digimon?"

"Probably the same problem," said Maggie.

"I forgot," said Sora.

"Tai, are you sure we should be telling these things?" Agumon asked. 'What if Scott has some dark, secret agenda?"

"I do _not_!" Scott replied. "I'm just here to play!"

"Oh, that reminds me," said Sora. "Mimi asked how the name of the club is usually pronounced."

"It's usually pronounced _Sel_-tik," said Tai. "But some people say _Kel_-tik."

"I prefer to say _Kel_-tic regarding the culture," said Scott. "I prefer to say _Sel_-tic when talking about the club."

"What about the team in Boston?" Sora asked. 'I heard some people associate—"

"Fuck the Celtics!" said Scott. "Da Bulls!"

"Ye just had to say that, didn't ye?" Maggie asked.

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"Oh, sorry," said Sora. "Those must be the other guests. Excuse me for a moment." She got up and stalled while Agumon and Biyomon rushed into the bedroom. Then, Tai leaned in to Scott and Maggie.

"By the way, can you keep the Digimon a secret?" Tai asked. "We're not sure if anyone would be able to handle the existence of Digimon yet. Please don't tell anyone yet."

"Don't worry," said Scott. "I doubt anyone would ever believe us."

"Luke, Janet, come on in!" Sora said as Chapman and his date came in the condo.

"Bloody hell, it's a mess out there," said Chapman.

"No swearing in my condo!" said Sora. "That includes you, Tai!"

"Oh, come on!" said Tai. "What about Michaels?"

"Don't drag me into this!"

"He can't swear either," said Sora. Tai gave Scott a smug look, while Scott shot a dirty one.

The guests continued to come in, eventually including Kari and T.K., who were holding hands and acting like a couple. Sora fawned over how adorable the two looked. Tai facepalmed while Scott snickered at him. Needless to say, Kari and T.K. were feeling a little embarrassed. Oh, and yes, Sora did get some sparkly juice and soda for them. They are underage, after all.

Eventually the condo was filled with chatting partygoers. Most of them were sipping some beer. The champagne would be saved until around midnight. A mixture of Scottish, English, Australian and American accents filled the condo. The karaoke machine had yet to be turned on. The only way someone would actually go near it was if they had knocked back a few.

"… Yeah, Kamiya's still pissed about the Bronze Medal match," Scott joked. Tai rolled his eyes at Scott's failed joke.

"You were still lucky," said Tai. "That ball only came your way by a fluke."

"Keep telling yourself that," said Scott.

"I thought you were mature," Tai muttered. "Anyway, I'm over that. It just was a Bronze Medal match, anyway. I'm after a bigger prize."

"Yeah, so am I," said Scott. "Don't expect to get it easily though." By now Chapman had gotten impatient with the two and left. "EY!"

"Maggie, did you talk to your boss at the club yet?" Sora asked while clutching her drink.

"Aye," said Maggie. "He said he'll give ye a shot. And, he loved yer kit designs." Sora paused, then her face brightened. She could barely contain herself and she glomped Maggie.

"Thanks, Maggs!" she said. "You're a life-saver."

"Don't mention it," said Maggie. "Now could ye let go a' me?"

"Sorry," said Sora.

"By the way, what about—"

"We'll save that for later," Sora interrupted.

"Yeah, I was at both World Series games!" Scott said to Chapman and Boyd. "I remember Game 2 of the World Series like it was yesterday. I think I was one of the first to stand up when Konerko hit his grand slam. That put the White Sox up 6-4."

"And why are you telling us this again?" Chapman asked.

"Because you asked about it," said Scott.

"Anyway, this guy is being an ass," said Tai. "He was just talking so loud on his cell phone, talk about lack of courtesy. I finally told him to shut the hell up but he kept talking. Then, I told him to shove it and left."

"You could have just left," said T.K.

"Yeah, but he was obnoxious," said Tai.

The party was going well. The atmosphere was light and there was one schmuck giving karaoke a try. Scott pushed him off the stage (he sucked) and started singing "The Impression That I Get" by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He too, was pushed off the stage.

It was getting closer to midnight and the end of the year. It felt like an ending. Oh sure, the cycle of time would continue, but that's not the point. But Tai was thinking he'd better start talking to Sora or—

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Great, another guest to interrupt the narration. "I'll get it," said Sora. She jogged over to the door, opened and wouldn't you know who it was? "Hello Davis," said Sora.

"Sora!" Tai said. "You invited him?"

"Fuck Rangers!" said Scott. "Unionist bastards!" He got a slap on the back of the head for that.

"Of course I invited him," said Sora. "You need to make up. You can't hold any grudges

against him like that. Who knows, you might play for the national team someday. Do you want your rivalry to cloud your teamwork?"

"Okay, she's got a point," said Scott.

"And besides, you two have been friends for years," Sora continued. "You can't let this end your friendship, can you?"

"Hey, Tai!" said Davis. Tai sighed as Davis extended his hand. Tai extended his hand and shook Davis' hand. The other partygoers applauded (possibly sarcastically). "We're still going to beat you next time."

"You wish," said Tai.

"_Whooo the fuck are Glasgow RAAAYYYngers!" _Scott sang.

"_Who the fuck are Glasgow Ra~angers,  
__Who~ the fuck are Glasgow Ra~angers,  
__As the Celts go marching ON ON ON!_" Everyone else sang.

"Very funny," said Davis.

The party got back under way. Tai and Davis spoke to each other again while Scott gave karaoke another try, this time singing "Fortunate Son". At least he didn't get pushed off this time. Davis also tried to make up with T.K. and wished him luck with Kari (he still called him TJ, though).

In the mean time, the clock kept slipping not just on the year, but our story. Tai stepped outside for a moment into the Glaswegian night to reflect on the year. It started off with a bad finish at the Olympics and ended with Celtic at the top of the SPL table. He played (but was humiliated) in Old Trafford, he was beat down, he took some hits but in all, he got back up again. Playing in the physical Scottish league made him tougher, in his opinion.

But he also got to play some pretty good games. He beat Manchester United, Aalborg and Villarreal, and now the team was preparing to face AC Milan. That would be one hell of a match-up.

As for Sora? Well, it should be obvious by now Tai has feelings for her. All that UST must have driven the readers crazy by now. Well, don't worry. It's about to end.

He thought about all the times he spent with her; about how he was devastated when she went with Matt. He realized how much she meant to him. His friends still mattered, though; nothing could separate them. But Sora was much more than a friend. She was different. He wasn't sure when, but he must have fallen in love with her some time ago and he buried it. Maybe when she stayed with him in Glasgow was when those feelings came back up.

He smiled. It was actually a pretty nice realization. He wanted to be there for her when she needed him. He wanted to love her and he wanted her to love him. All you need is love, right? Right.

"Tai?" Speak of the devil. "Why'd you come out here? It's awfully cold."

"It's not too bad," he said as he kept staring out at the City Centre. She walked up beside him and leaned against the balcony. They stayed silent for a few moments; a comfortable silence. There's too much awkward silence these days.

"It's getting close to midnight," she said. "Aren't you going to come inside?"

"No," said Tai. "I'm fine out here. I'll be able to hear George Square once it hits midnight."

"Sure," Sora laughed. She went back to staring at the city. It's so peaceful. It's hard to imagine this is the murder capital of the United Kingdom. But for these two, it wasn't so bad. "Why did you come to Celtic, anyway?"

"They gave me a shot," said Tai. "And I'm glad I took it."

"That's good," said Sora. "Do you have any regrets?"

"Not a damn one," he said. She laughed. He was echoing her words. "Why did you stay with me?"

"I wanted to start anew," she said. "After Matt and I broke up, I wanted to find a new life, so I got a work permit from the British Home Office."

"Why did you break up with Matt?" he asked. "Was he bad to you?"

"No," she replied. "We just… drifted apart." If you think this is familiar, you're right. She said this during a previous chapter. "He would go for weeks without calling me and pretty soon, we hadn't spoken in a year. I had enough."

"I see," said Tai. He didn't want to say anything about when he eavesdropped on her. Well, it's better to be honest. "I already knew."

"You did?" Sora asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it was a week ago at Scott's Christmas party," he said. "I heard you tell him that. I'm sorry for eavesdropping."

"At least you're honest," she said. "Tai, you've been a great friend all these years. And you'll probably be a good husband to some lucky woman."

"Yeah," said Tai. He couldn't tell, but there was some envy on her tone. But it was subtle.

"It's five minutes to midnight," she said. "You want some champagne?"

"Sure," he said. She went back in while everyone else was getting ready for the countdown. He could see the shots from the London Eye and George Square on TV. It was just about time for midnight. Sora came back outside holding a pair of champagne flutes. She handed the one in her left hand to him. "Thanks," he said.

"You're welcome." She set the flute on the banister and put her elbows against it. The sounds of the celebration from George Square could be heard by now. Once again, silence fell between the two for about a minute, before Sora spoke up again. "Tai… you remember when you saved me from Datamon?"

"Of course I remember, it seems like it was just yesterday," he said.

"I think that might have done something to me," she said. "I mean, you risked your life to save me, and… you've always been there for me."

"Yeah," he said. "It's what friends do."

"Yes, but," she paused. She needed to find the right words. "I think you might be more than a friend." His eyes widened. Did she just say that? She smiled at him. "I guess I never really loved Matt. I was in love with someone else the whole time."

"_Ten, Nine, Eight,"_

"You were?" he asked as she came closer to him. She nodded her head. "Who?"

"_Seven, six, five, four,"_

She giggled. "Try to guess." She wrapped her arms around him and leaned in.

It hit him. He closed his eyes and leaned in (this is gonna be so cheesy).

"_Three, two, one!_" Lips touched and…

"_HAPPY NEW YEAR!"_

It was a good, light kiss that lasted just a second. But it meant more for the two who were sharing it. They ended it and looked at each other. "So, we're…" Tai trailed off.

"Pretty much, yeah," she said. He smiled. This felt pretty good. He could see the fireworks going off at George Square and hear the cheering partiers, both inside and out.

"_Should auld acquaintance be forgot,__  
__And never brought to mind?__  
__Should auld acquaintance be forgot,__  
__And auld lang syne?"_

"Come on, let's go inside," she said as she took his hand. He smiled and followed her in. She was going to make a great girlfriend. Once they got in, a very familiar song began.

"_Sure it's a grand old team to play for  
__Sure it's a grand old team bedad  
__When we read its history  
__It's enough to make your heart go sad,  
__God bless them"_

"Sora, do you have any regrets?" he asked. She smiled and replied,

"Not a damn one." She leaned in and they kissed again to the cheers of everyone.

"_We don't care whether we win lose or draw,  
__Darn the hair we care  
__Because we only know  
__That there's going to be a show  
__And the Glasgow Celtic will be there!  
__And the Glasgow Celtic will be there!_"

:-:-:-:**It's a Grand Old Team**:-:-:-:

The end


	14. Afterword

**Afterword:**

Hey guys, it's Big D.

I'd like to thank you for reading "It's a Grand Old Team to Play For". It started this in 2009 after a frustrating season for Celtic. I wanted this to go on to showing the team winning the Scottish Premier League and making it deep in the Champions League. However, as time has gone by, I've lost interest in this story. And since I've begun writing _Stern Des Sudens_, it's really taken up my attention and I intend on finishing it within a year.

This story will always have a special meaning to me. It's my second-most read story, after all, but I think it's time I wrapped this up. First off, I apologize if the last chapter felt rushed. Originally, Tai and Sora were supposed to hook up later on, but I decided to make them hook up in chapter 13. I'm sorry if it seemed sudden, but I think I dropped enough hints on both sides that they had it bad for each other. I'd rather if they took their time, but I wanted to wrap this story up. At least it's better than "Million Points of Light", right?

But, that does not mean the book is closed on this story completely. I may continue this story one day. When, though, is up in the air. If you guys encourage me enough, I may write some extra chapters for this story. I'm willing to do it!

Again, I'd like to thank everyone for reading and reviewing this story. You guys have been great.

Hail hail, Mon the Hoops and go Celtic!


End file.
